Realisations
by Mira Avis
Summary: In the human body even daily work can be life-threatening. Faced with dangerous incidents once again both AE 3803 and U-1146 finally begin to grasp something about their relationship and the other neutrophils, U-4989 especially, are eager to help them along…preferably without the two noticing them meddling. Please review!
1. Malaria 1

Author's Note: A couple of things before we get started.

I'm trying to structure this story similarly to the manga itself, (almost) following the example of volume 5, which means one overarching story, while each chapter deals with different threat. It also means that chapters will only have a moderate length and I'll be including explanations to new cells and other concepts; if I miss something don't hesitate to ask.

To avoid confusion; when U-1146 and AE 3803 are addressing/referring to one another in conversation, I'm going to use Hakkekkyū and Sekkekkyū, as they apparently refuse to use their numbers, just to make it easier to distinguish who they are talking to/about. Also thanks to the anime I'm now so used to hearing it.

This story takes place after chapter 27, so especially for those who've only seen the anime, there might be a little spoiler or two.

Now, let's finally get to story, I hope you enjoy.

* * *

 **Malaria**

 **Part 1**

For most of the body it was a normal, calm day. Almost all cells went about their business undisturbed and untroubled, blissfully unaware of any potential dangers. Within the liver however, one street was strangely quiet. A few perturbed erythrocytes were nervously discussing the fact that several buildings here, many of which resembled little factories and workshops, had been found empty, or at least their residents had been completely unresponsive.

Minds were not exactly eased by the two leucocytes, who were already at the scene, as even they seemed troubled, as well as displaying fresh bruises they had inflicted on each other. The little fight that had broken out between them upon meeting had only lasted a few seconds, but hadn't inspired confidence in the none-immune cells watching. Now the two were standing next to each other in front of an abandoned house, though tension between them remained like a brewing thunderstorm.

Neither Memory T-Cell nor NK were pleased to be here, once more forced to work together. If they were honest, it was only because Dendritic Cell had asked them to investigate, though he hadn't told them what specifically to look out for. Perhaps even he didn't know.

"This doesn't look like any virus I've ever seen." NK noted grimly, running a finger along a rather small whole in the wall of a hepatocyte's home. Not even her fist could have fitted through it. "Just destruction and not an infected cell in sight."

Memory T-Cell frowned, ignoring his still stinging nose, where her elbow had hit him earlier. "Think it might be cancer again?" Frankly he'd hoped to be rid of him for good after their second encounter, but he knew better than to count on that.

The female lymphocyte shook her head and entered through the nearby door, T-Cell following her somewhat begrudgingly. She had arrived sometime earlier and already taken a look around. "No; there is no sign of proliferation. But I found this." The darkened room was a workshop filled with flasks, stills and various other tools, and in a corner T-Cell saw boxes labelled 'Bilirubin'. Meanwhile NK dragged something out into the light that was falling in through the door behind them, tossing it right in front of the other lymphocyte.

He kneeled down for a closer look, adjusting his cap out of habit. "She's long dead." It was a cell, one of the hepatocytes, but something was strange about the body.

 ** _Hepatocyte_**

 _Cells that make up 70 – 85% of the liver's mass, the body's largest gland. Their tasks include: Synthesizing and storing proteins, such as blood proteins like albumin and clotting factors_

 _Storage of glucose (as glycogen) and fat (lipoproteins), giving them a role in regulating the carbohydrate and lipid metabolism_

 _Detoxification/ modification of waste products (such as bilirubin, created when haemoglobin is being deconstructed) and other foreign, harmful substances (such as alcohol and drugs)_

 _The production and secretion of bile, which is then stored by the gallbladder until needed for digestion._

"Is it just me or does she look drained to you too." The cell looked skinny, as if starved, the pale skin fallen in, the cytoskeleton standing uncomfortably out, even under the long lab coat she was wearing.

NK nodded, her dark eyes narrowed. "It's weird alright." She merely confirmed, arms crossed in front of her chest and featuring an uncommonly contemplative expression. "I'm gonna see if I can find whatever caused this." With that she simply walked off. "And whatever it was, it is clearly no longer here."

Even though this was something NK regularly did, it also didn't fail to irritate the T-cell, but this wasn't exactly the time to pick a fight again. That hadn't exactly worked out in the past. Later maybe. When his side didn't hurt as much anymore.

Instead he grabbed the dead body and threw it over his shoulder. "Fine. I'll take this one and see if Dendritic or maybe Memory Cell can dig something up." He shouted after her as he stepped back into the street. "Hey, you better stay in touch!"

She raised a hand as if to wave dismissively, but didn't turn around, simply continuing to walk. "Yeah, yeah; whatever."

T-Cell gritted his teeth, supressing his resurfacing anger. "Dammit NK."

"Good day, Memory T-Cell." A warm, friendly voice suddenly greeted him from the side.

Taken by surprise his annoyance almost immediately dissolved and peeking over his shoulder saw what at first glance looked like a Macrophage. There were several differences however; the dress was more copper in colour and aside from her spear she carried with her a large net. "Oh, Kupffer cell."

 ** _Kupffer cell_**

 _Specialized macrophages that reside in the liver, removing bacteria and damaged erythrocytes from the bloodstream though phagocytosis._

"My, my, isn't that one of the hepatocytes?" She asked still smiling as he turned around, noticing the body he was carrying.

T-Cell nodded. "Yes; she and a few of her neighbours recently got killed. You haven't noticed anything lately?"

Kupffer cell placed a hand on her heart. "I assure you, we didn't let any bacteria or viruses pass. But this." Something like a frown flitted briefly across her face. "I've never seen or even heard of a germ that would do something like this. Do you have a lead?"

"Not yet, but we're already on the case. So is one of the NK cells." He couldn't help but pull a face when he mentioned the other leucocyte.

She either didn't notice or at least didn't address this, only smiled once again. "Very good. My fellow Kupffer cells and I will keep an eye out and inform you should we find anything suspicious." The specialized Macrophage assured him.

"I appreciate it." It was frankly reassuring that someone else besides NK was now on the hunt as well. And no matter what role they played, macrophages could always be relied upon. However this begged one troubling thought: what enemy could have escaped them of all cells?

* * *

The abdomen was always a busy place, with the digestive tract being the entry point for a wide variety of germs and other pathogens, which tended to provide the body's leucocytes with enough work to keep them occupied all day, even when everything else was quiet.

U-1146 had just finished quelling an invasion near the pylorus by some germs, which had hoped to escape the stomach acid. Instead of the much more inviting duodenum or a comfortable blood vessel however, they had been greeted by a couple of neutrophils, brandishing combat knifes. All in all a rather normal day. Just a short visit to the wash station and he'd back on patrol.

It was then he heard a familiar voice. "Hakkekkyū-san!"

He looked up and saw AE3803 coming towards him, her smile just as bright as ever, a basket filled with nutrients swinging at her arm. "Ah, Sekkekkyū." 1146 greeted her, his lips moving to form a subtle smile.

"I see you're working diligently as usual." She noted cheerfully, but he could have sworn that there was a hint of worry lingering in her amber eyes, when she regarded him.

"What?" Only now did he really took notice of the other erythrocytes around them, most showing a mixture of fear and disgust, when they took as much as a peek at him. Unfortunately, he was used to those reactions. "Oh yes; hadn't had time to clean up yet." 1146 admitted, as he examined the extent of cytoplasm across his uniform. It was perhaps a bit more excessive than he'd previously thought.

"Really? It looks like it's already starting to dry." 3803 pointed out with a little frown, but her smile made a quick return. "You look like you could use a break. Hey, I'm headed to the liver, why don't we, after I've finished my delivery, grab a tea together?"

Her joviality was admittedly rather contagious, something he had come to appreciate. Around her it was easy to relax, which was something he as a white blood cell found very valuable amidst constant battles for survival. He was truly grateful to count her as a friend, the only erythrocyte in this body, who didn't shy away from him or his colleagues, no matter how bloodied they were.

Yes, a break really wasn't a bad idea.

1146 nodded. "Alright. Go on ahead; I'm just going to try and clean this, before I catch up with you."

Her smile widened, obviously glad he'd accepted, a heart-warming sight to be sure. "Okay, see you in a few." Her expression however immediately faltered, when they heard an all too familiar sound. Both looked up to his receptor. "Oh, or a bit later."

"Maybe this will be a quick on." Still, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

"Go get them!" 1146 heard her shout as he rushed off. She really was a special one.

* * *

As soon as U-1146 had disappeared behind a corner AE 3803 was on her way again, though she walked slower than usual, deep in thought. She was worried. It hadn't been long since a battle at the stomach had nearly cost him and Eosinophil their lives. She'd seen them on the stretchers, covered in their own cytoplasm.

Her body still shivered at the memory. If U-4989 hadn't shown up to calm her down and cheer her up when he had. No, this time Hakkekkyū would be fine. He'd survived so many battles with hardly a scratch; that one time had been a horrible exception.

3803 took a deep breath. She had to focus, or she'd only get lost again.

Despite the nearby attack things were calm around her, common cells were relaxing or playing games with others to pass the time, while her fellow red blood cells were making their deliveries undisturbed or talking with each other, enjoying a brief break from their duties.

Further down the road one such group caught her attention.

"They're really pretty. Where did you say you got them?" A red blood cell with short blond hair asked, looking at another's wrist.

"One of the hepatocytes." The owner of said wrist replied, brushing a strand of her long brown hair away from her face, the tag on her hat identifying her as AB 2934. "I guess she was bored and got herself a hobby, so when I made my last delivery she gave me a few of these."

"That's so sweet." The third of the group noted, a long, auburn plait reaching almost to her waist. "And it even fits perfectly too."

Curious 3803 stepped closer to have a look. "Huh? What are those?" She asked, earning the three's attention.

AB 2934 smiled at her, not minding the intrusion. "Bracelets. Would you like one too? I have a few to spare." They were indeed small bracelets, each a simple crimson cord with a glassy red pearl, while some had two.

Having never really received a gift before 3803 beamed. "Yeah, sure." The younger erythrocyte replied excitedly. AB 2934 put one with two pearls around her right wrist, the thin cord cool but not unpleasant against her membrane. The bracelet proved light and stayed in place even when she moved her arm, which meant that it fortunately wouldn't hinder her during work. It would be a shame to have to take it off for most of the day. "Wow thanks."

"And these are for you." AB 2934 gave the other two theirs, putting the rest back into the little bag all erythrocytes had at their belts. "Well, I got to get going again."

"Well, don't forget to take a break once in a while." The short-haired one reminded her. "You look like you could use some glucose."

Now that it was mentioned, AB 2934 looked indeed a little pale, a bit like she'd been running around the body for three days nonstop. Seems like it wasn't just Hakkekkyū-san, who overdid it from time to time. "Yeah, it's been a while; just got to finish this one delivery, promise."

"Alright, take care."

"Bye."

The small group dispersed and AE 3803 looked at her new piece of jewellery again. It really was pretty and matched her jacket perfectly. She couldn't wait to show it to U-1146. Hopefully he'd like it. In good spirits once again, her earlier worries forgotten for the moment, 3803 continued on, humming happily as she walked down the street.

* * *

"Guess they never learn." U-4989 was covered in bright red cytoplasm from head to toe, more dripping from his knife, but there was a satisfied smile on his lips.

The Listeria which had invaded the body through a blood-vessel near the stomach hadn't put up much of a fight, with their only advantage having been numbers. Now their rod-shaped bodies were covering he floor, a few of their numerous lash-like flagellums still twitching helplessly. It seemed they had witnessed the other germs get killed and waited for an opening; a vain attempt with so many leucocytes around. The damage was minimal, the platelets already fixing the hole in the wall, while the passing erythrocytes tried to keep as much distance from the battlefield as possible.

 ** _Listeria_**

 _Ubiquitous bacteria ingested through the consumption of contaminated food, such as improperly processed meat, fish and dairy products. Usually harmless to healthy adults, with symptoms only appearing when large numbers of listeria have been ingested, causing fever and diarrhoea. Dangerous to those with compromised immune systems and pregnant women, as they can harm or even kill the unborn child._

U-1146 wiped off some of the cytoplasm on his face, though he had a feeling that he was more distributing it than anything else. "At least the stomach didn't get injured." The last time that had happened, he and Eosinophil had almost died defending the body; subconsciously his free hand briefly ran across his own abdomen, where he'd been injured.

"Hey 1146; you're alright?"

He hadn't even noticed his mind wandering off until his friend began waving a hand in front of his face. "What? Oh, sorry. I was just in thought."

"Maybe you could use a break." He wasn't used to see 4989 frown, especially not with a hint of worry. Did he really look that bad? Well, he had been going through quite a bit; recently there had been a few too many near death experiences for his liking, but such was the job.

U-1146 sighed and straightened his cap. "I was actually trying to take one, when the attack happened. Perhaps I have better luck this time."

"Well, after you cleaned up a bit." U-4989 pointed out, his more usual smile returning. "Looking like this even platelets are going to run away from us."

1146 was about to reply, when another voice joined in. "You boys seem to be having fun."

Both neutrophils looked around and spotted a cell they hadn't expected. "NK, what brings you here?" 1146 hadn't seen her since the last incident with cancer.

The female cell shrugged, sabre swaying at her hips. "The job of course." She simply retorted nonchalantly.

U-1146 wasn't convinced; it was more likely that she simply wanted to do things on her own as usual. This lone wolf-act would surely get her killed one day. "You seem troubled. What exactly are you hunting this time?"

NK merely raised a brow. "Why must something be wrong? You know I'm patrolling the entire body at all times."

"Hm."

Ignoring his reaction she kneeled down next to a Listeria-body, giving the corpse a brief examination. Was it him, or was she acting stranger than usual? "But it seems there are only common bacteria here, so I guess I'll see you around."

U-1146 was torn between inquiring further and letting her simply walk away again, but before he could open his mouth, all three noticed something strange. It was an erythrocyte, coming their way through the blood vessel, but for some reason he was heading right towards them, looking quite distraught and not carrying anything with him.

"White blood cells!" He suddenly shouted, waving with his free arms. "Please you have to come quickly! My friend just collapsed!"

"Collapsed?" 4989 asked confused, when the other cell had reached them.

The red blood cell nodded, catching his breath. "Yes. She wasn't feeling well, but before we could take a break she blacked out! I have no idea why!" He explained hurriedly. "I don't know what to do. What if she is infected or something?!"

It was unlikely, given that without a nucleus erythrocytes were useless to viruses, but 1146 was troubled by the new nonetheless. "We'll check on her. Lead the way." 1146 promised, which seemed to reassure the nervous erythrocyte somewhat.

"What about the Listeria?" His friend asked, pointing at the corpses.

"They're not going anywhere, let's go."

The red blood cell ran ahead, the two neutrophils following and 1146 was surprised to see that NK was coming along with them. She had to be looking for something specific, which wasn't a good sign.

On their way 1146 noticed that they were headed towards the liver, but diverged slightly until they reached a crowd of red blood cells, all talking nervously with one another, none taking notice of them approaching. "Please stand aside!" U-1146's voice caught everyone's attention and at the sight of the two bloodied neutrophils they hurriedly made way as if they were somehow contagious.

On the ground before them was an unconscious erythrocyte, her skin as pale as that of a neutrophil and covered with sweat. A basket was still in her arms, however the nutrients she'd been carrying were now strewed about. The surrounding red blood cells continued to back off further, every single one of them showing fear, some now whispering anxiously to one another again.

"Hey, are you alright?!" As the first to arrive, U-4989 shook the erythrocyte's body, kneeling by her side, but she swayed lifelessly in his arms. His fingers reached for her throat, but judging from his expression didn't feel anything.

"She's dead." NK noted dryly, joining them, but displayed no emotional reaction, her face a blank.

"But how?" The neutrophil exclaimed confused. "I don't see any injuries."

"No idea." U-1146 replied; he hadn't seen anything like this either and he gritted his teeth, feeling very uneasy now. This couldn't be good.

"Let me see." Rather roughly NK took the body from 4989, checking it much more thoroughly than the germ earlier. 1146 looked around. The other erythrocytes watched with horrified expressions, rendered silent for the moment. NK either didn't notice or simply didn't care; neither would have surprised him. "No virus obviously, but no sign of cancer or a bacterium. Damn." She finally concluded.

"So you are on the hunt."

NK looked up, meeting his glare. She seemed to consider something for a moment, before she rose again, letting the erythrocyte's body simply slump on the floor, much to 1146 distaste. He was however glad to see that at least the still kneeling 4989 made an effort to put her into a more dignified position and even placed her thin, pale hands folded on her body. "Fine, if you must know, something killed a few hepatocytes recently, so Dendritic cell sent me and Memory T to investigate, however neither of us knows what it is yet. Whatever did it seems to have vanished."

"And now a red blood cell." Two very different cells; it didn't make much sense. Most germs were very specific with their targets. "You think they are connected."

The short haired female rolled her eyes. "Are you dense? They have to be."

"Uh guys, what's that on her wrist." U-4989 interrupted, pointing at something around the victim's right wrist. It looked like a red bracelet, but U-1146 had never seen erythrocytes wear any kind of jewellery, as they could hinder them during work. But that wasn't what had caught his friend's attention.

"It's moving!?" U-1146 exclaimed, his hand reaching for his knife out of instinct.

Like a small worm the supposed bracelet had begun to wriggle. It bloated and several dents showed, before it suddenly just fell off. And then it split along the dents.

"It's multiplying!" NK shouted, blade drawn, as all five parts began to move again, each a new worm. "Kill them quickly!"

The watching red blood cells began to scream in panic and started to run, desperate to get as far away from the worms as possible. U-4989 jumped back on his feet, blade drawn. "What are they?"

"No idea, but we can't let them escape!" 1146 replied, stabbing the closest worm, pinning it to the ground, where it wriggled desperately for a few moments before lying still.

NK's blade cut two apart in one move and his friend got another. "One is getting away!" 4989 yelled, pointing at the last one as it tried to reach a red blood cell that seemed frozen with fear. But before any of them could deal the killing blow someone else stepped forth.

"Not to worry."

Him, 1146 had not expected to see. "Dendritic Cell."

With the struggling worm in hand the green-clad leucocyte turned to his colleagues, displaying a relaxed smile. "Ah U-1146, I noticed some commotion. Am I correct to assume that these are responsible?"

The neutrophil nodded. "Yes, but we have no idea what those are."

Dendritic cell took a closer look at the thing, which was still trying helplessly to free itself from his grip. "Plasmodium." He rather quickly concluded, glancing compassionately had the dead erythrocyte on the ground, his smile faltering for a moment.

"What?" None of the other three leucocytes had ever heard of it.

"Plasmodium falciparum. They are parasites that cause Malaria. At first they infect hepatocytes, and then they move on to read blood cells, digesting the haemoglobin."

U-4989 pulled a face. "Disgusting."

"So you knew all along?" NK growled dangerously, evidently annoyed.

Dendritic cell however didn't seem the least bit threatened by her demeanour. "I didn't, not until I saw this trophozoite, though I had my suspicions, when I found a strange little creature following the latest mosquito bite." He told her, before he threw her the worm-like creature. With a swift move she cut it apart, while it was still in mid-air.

 ** _Plasmodium falciparum_**

 _Unicellular parasites introduced to a host body by the bite of an insect, most commonly the Anopheles. At this stage they are called sporozoites. They first infect the liver (hepatocytes), maturing into schizonts, and multiply, becoming merozoites, before getting released into the bloodstream, where they invade erythrocytes. There the parasites continue to multiply asexually and devour the haemoglobin (having reached the throphpziote-stage), destroying the host cell in the process and moving on to more red blood cells. This circle continues in the bloodstream, while some turn into male and female gametocytes, which can be absorbed by a mosquito again, where they reproduce sexually, creating new sporozoites._

1146 looked back to the dead erythrocyte. "There have to be more, if several hepatocytes have been killed. We have to find and destroy them all."

"That always was my plan." NK noted confidently, letting her bloodied blade rest on her shoulder.

1146 declined to reply. The obvious problem they were facing was that they didn't know where to start. The body after all was vast and those things could have gotten anywhere, travelling attached to an erythrocyte.

A frightful shout suddenly tore him from his thoughts. "Please, help me!" All four leucocytes turned around, seeing that the previously frozen red blood cell had regained her wits, with tears now streaming form her eyes.

Alarmed U-4989 reached for his knife again. "What is it?"

"AB 2934; she gave me this bracelet when she came from the liver! I think it's one of those things!" Everyone looked at her wrist, where she was indeed wearing a similar looking bracelet, even if it looked smaller.

4989 took it and tried to carefully remove it, without hurting her. "Damn, my knife can't cut through it." He growled and moved on to try to tear it off with bare hands. It yielded similar results.

"If these things are feeding on erythrocyte, maybe it would be saver to simply kill the host." NK suggested nonchalantly, not even a hint of pity or concern anywhere in her expression.

"What?!"

Both neutrophils subconsciously moved their bodies between her and the once more paralyzed erythrocyte. 1146 was tense; this was not a virus that had taken over. This cell could certainly be saved somehow. "NK, we're supposed to keep the body safe, which includes the cells living in and providing for it. If we can save her, we will." U-1146 reminded her coldly.

The female leucocyte frowned, before she finally sighed. "Fine. Show me the damn thing already."

Somewhat relieved, but still wary, 1146 nodded and turned to the auburn haired red blood cell. "Go on."

Still frightened the erythrocyte hesitantly raised her arm, by the look of it ready to burst into tears again. Impatiently NK then grabbed the extended arm, pulling the girl closer. 1146 was ready to step in, clutching his own weapon, as was 4989 by the looks of it. All eyes were on the sabre, the blade due to the angle pointing at the erythrocytes chest.

Much more carefully than 1146 had expected, NK continued to cut through the crimson ring, cytoplasm gushing, probably what the parasite had already absorbed from its host. Dead the foul thing briefly shivered before simply falling off, merely leaving a few red dots behind on the pale membrane, likely a bite-mark.

"There you go."

The young erythrocyte remained shaken, staring frightfully at her newly freed wrist, Dendritic Cell gently placing a reassuring hand on her shivering shoulder. U-1146 gave her a few moments, before he addressed her again. "Do you know anyone else who got one of those things?" He asked her calmly, though his visible eye all but glared; if they didn't act quickly, there was no telling how many erythrocytes could fall victim to this parasite.

Slowly she nodded, not meeting his gaze. "As far as I know 2934 only gave them to RD 9843 and AE 3803…"

Every mitochondrion in him stopped working in that very instant. "AE 3803?! Are you sure?!"

Caught off guard but his sudden shift, the erythrocyte jumped, the long plait falling off her shoulder. "Y..yes," She stuttered fearfully. "Why?"

"1146…" His friend began, also aware of whom that number belonged to.

"You go find the other!"

* * *

Slowly AE 3803 wiped the sweat from her forehead, looking confused at the wet back of hand. Why was she so exhausted? It only been a few minutes since she'd made her delivery, but even before reaching the address, she had started to feel a bit tired.

And it had only gotten worse since then.

Finding a nearby bench in a side street, 3803 decided to take a break. Maybe a few minutes to catch her breath would be enough. Besides she'd be meeting U-1146 soon for a nice tea and in her case a bit of glucose. Hopefully she hadn't taken too long; he shouldn't have to wait. Not to mention that he would only think her lost again.

AE 3803 closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Only a few moments.

Strange, her wrist felt a little stiff. Actually it seemed to be pulsing as well. Feeling a little dizzy now, 3803 looked at her wrist, eyes immediately drawn to the red bracelet. Was it maybe a little too tight? Perhaps it would be best to take it off.

She just had to pull…

AE 3803 froze. She couldn't even move it!

Even with using more force the bracelet remained defiantly in place and at this point she could feel fear crawling up her spine. She jumped back on her feet, swaying as she did, her head feeling strangely light all of the sudden. What was going on?

Breathing heavily at this point, 3803 was frightened to notice that her vision was darkening, her legs trembling in the effort to keep her standing. Why was this so difficult? Somehow this just had to get off!

She continued to struggle for a while. And then she simply gave up. She just didn't have the strength anymore. It was a terrifying realization, chilling her to the core and she could feel tears in her eyes. Her body started to feel like a distant, heavy thing, barely connected to her now spinning head.

Was she fainting? What was happening to her? Please someone help!

Anyone?

Suddenly she felt utterly alone in the encroaching darkness that swallowed up all sensations. It was like being cut off from the world around her. And no one seemed to notice.

Then from somewhere very far away she heard a familiar voice shouting. It was strangely muffled. "Sekkekkyū!" Was that him? "Has anyone seen AE 3803?!"

She couldn't feel her body anymore, while all that was left of her vision had been reduced to a tiny circular window. It was all so blurry. The ground appeared to be getting closer. _Hakkekkyū-san_ _… I don't feel so good._

"Sekkekkyū!"

* * *

 **Author's Note on Malaria:**

Malaria is a disease that is rather wide-spread in tropical and sub-tropical regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia. There are in fact several species of Plasmodium that can infect humans and cause some form of Malaria.

Plasmodium falciparum is the most dangerous one, causing the life-threatening Malaria tropica.

The other species are Plasmodium malariae, vivax, ovale and knowlesi They all can make you sick, but they aren't as dangerous as falciparum, but still possibly lethal. And yes, it was confusing at first to my classmates and me in microbiology that Plasmodium malariae only caused a mild version of the "real" malaria.

In case you're curious: In the story I described the trophozoites as rings/bracelets with one or two pearls; the idea to depict them as jewellery was inspired by the similarly looking celtic torcs.

Also when we looked at Plasmodium infected erythrocytes on smear preparations (blood spread across a microscope slide), during our education, we were greeted by hundreds of cells with smileys in them; no joke, when you take the blood sample at the right time that's what they look like. "I have smileys." kinda became our code for malaria. I always felt a little like the parasite was silently mocking us…


	2. Malaria 2

**Malaria**

 **Part 2**

"Sekkekkyū!"

She just collapsed, first sinking to her knees, her head hitting the ground mere moments before he made it to her. No; he couldn't be too late!

1146 dashed into the side-road and reached her by simply dropping to his knees, never slowing, ignoring the pain upon impact. It didn't matter. He was panting now after his fear-fuelled search, but without ever catching his breath took hold of her body, turning her until he all but cradled her in his arms.

He lifted her head closer to him, patting her cheek in an attempt to wake her. "Sekkekkyū! Wake up! Talk to me!" There was no reaction. His own body suddenly felt cold, his organelles twisting uncomfortably. No, no, no!

Quickly his eyes wandered to her wrist and to his horror saw the trophozoite around it. Anger flared up within him, for the moment pushing aside his fear, but 1146 knew that trying to get it off would be a waste of time. Time 3803 did not have! Holding her in his arms he quickly rose again and ran back in the direction of the stomach. He had to find NK!

The erythrocyte's body felt both light and eerily limp as he carried her, keeping her close, her head placed against his chest so it wouldn't get tossed around with each step. Desperation was driving him further on and he pulled 3803 even closer, when he leaped through the small gap between two erythrocytes, who hadn't seen him coming. He heard their gasps of surprise, but ignored them. There was not a second to waste.

She couldn't die. He wouldn't let her die!

They would have tea together and she would tell him everything about her last time getting lost, listen to her imaginative descriptions of the world around them. Through her eyes everything seemed new and wondrous. The idea that they might never open again...

1146 nearly stumbled, his legs moving almost too swiftly for him to control, but he didn't dare to slow down. He had to get her to NK; nothing else mattered right now.

Any cell that saw him thankfully leaped out of the way and fortunately it was easy enough to run around the few who didn't see him.

Even though it wasn't too great a distance, it felt like an eternity before he reached the vessel where the other erythrocyte had died. He turned around the last corner, and somewhat alleviated, spotted NK immediately. She was still here and from the looks of it she was talking to a macrophage. Was the other phagocyte here to take care of the dead?

"NK!" he yelled, getting the other leucocyte's attention.

"Neutrophil, you're back." NK welcomed him, her eyes darting to erythrocyte in his arms. "I see you found her."

Stopping right in front of the other two immune cells he lifted 3803's arm. He would have sworn that the trophozoite had grown. "Quickly; you have to cut it off!" Even he noticed the sound of anxiety in his own voice, but he couldn't care less.

It was somewhat infuriating how relaxed NK reacted despite that, only appearing a little taken aback by his intensity. "Calm down," she told him, but thankfully took his friend's wrist. Like before she proceeded to cut the parasite apart, both halfs falling twitching to the ground, leaking their crimson content. "There; she might even be still alive."

Ignoring the almost snide tone underlining her words, 1146 reached for his friend's throat; only now did he realise that his fingers were shaking ever so slightly. He sighed in relief when he felt her cytoplasm stirring beneath them. She really was alive.

For the first time since going on his search, the neutrophil allowed himself a deep, calming breath. He remained however apprehensive. AE 3803 eyes stayed closed and he now noticed that her skin was almost as pale as his own. It begged the question: could she recover from this?

It was then the macrophage stepped closer, examining 3803 with a soft, even motherly expression. "She will need rest and perhaps even new haemoglobin, if she is to make a full recovery."

Haemoglobin. Without a nucleus or ribosomes, she couldn't produce any of her own anymore. Did this mean...

Thankfully the versatile leucocyte continued before he could finish the dreaded thought. "Let us bring her to the bone marrow. She and the other survivors will be taken care of there as best as we can."

The macrophage appeared astonishingly confident. 1146 had no idea what she had in mind, but there was one thing he could agree on; the bone marrow probably was the best place for 3803 right now. Still, there was this tight feeling in his chest that refused to ease. _Please, Sekkekkyū_ ; _wake up. You can't die._

* * *

Everything was pitch-black; no sensation was reaching her, as if her sleepy mind was trapped in a dark vacuum. It took some time, how much she could not tell, until she felt her body again, distant, puppet-like, but without a doubt present. Apparently it was lying on a soft surface, somewhere warm and comfortable. This was nice. Maybe she could sleep a little longer.

Her body however seemed to have other plans. Mind clearing, she started to feel more. It was a mattress, maybe a futon, she was lying on, while her head was resting comfortably on a pillow, the blanket covering her thin, yet cosy. Noises finally made it through as well, even if they seemed to come from really far away. Was that laughter? It sounded remarkably like children.

A little confused AE 3803 opened her eyes.

Bright light assaulted her senses, overwhelming them in a mere moment, forcing her to narrow her eyes again right away. Nonetheless she sat up and waited for her vision to adjust. It took a minute or two, but then she quickly recognized where she was.

The bone marrow.

The room itself was rather barren: only her bed, a low table and a small wardrobe, everything featuring brown wood and warm tones of beige or pristine white. The only thing that seemed off was a drip of some kind, the empty bag labelled 'Hgb'. She found herself dressed in a loose fitting shirt and long pants, while resting right next to the only window, and though the blinds were lowered they did not obstruct her vision much, as well as allowing plenty of light to get in.

Outside young erythroblasts were running around on the lawn, playing with each other or the mature cells caring for them. There were even a few myeloblasts, though there was no interaction between the two groups. A shame really. Still, there was this undeniable sense of nostalgia that warmed her cytoplasm, her lips curving up into a content smile. In a way this place would always feel like home.

Suddenly however, another thought got her attention. Why was she here?

Rubbing her temples, 3803 tried her best to remember, only to find her memory still infuriatingly fuzzy. She remembered a delivery in the liver; she'd met Hakkekkyū on her way, as well as a few other red blood cells she'd talked with. She'd gotten a bracelet... Damn; why couldn't she recall anything more?

Her desperate attempts at recollecting where interrupted, when the door on other side of the small room opened. A macrophage entered with the trademarked, ever-present smile and a motherly aura surrounding her, both immediately comforting to the still confused erythrocyte. "Ah, I see you are finally awake," she greeted 3803 warmly and sat down on the bed, not an easy task with her wide, billowing dress.

Her words however troubled the young erythrocyte. "Finally? How long was I asleep? How did I get here?" Her thoughts were racing, her questions bursting out hastily, with the words almost tumbling over each other.

Macrophage calmly lifted her hand to stop her or at least slow her down. "There, there, everything is alright now. You may not remember yet, but you've been the victim of a parasitic attack. I'm happy to say you were among the lucky infected to survive and you've been brought here for recovery."

"Parasite?" The warmth was suddenly drained from her body; it was as if she'd been showered with cold water, her chest tightening uncomfortably.

Her sudden shift must have been obvious, because the older cell gently placed a hand on one of hers. "You don't need to worry, you are safe now. The assailants are known as Plasmodium falciparum, nasty protozoans, which during one stage in their life-cycle infect erythrocytes like yourself. I was told they disguised themselves as unassuming pieces of jewellery, but the NKs have taken care of them all and the T-Cells have cleared the liver of any remaining invaders."

Jewellery? Oh, no. "The bracelet? That was a parasite?" She looked to her wrist, only to find a small red mark. Suddenly images flooded her mind. Her attempts of tearing it off, only to lose all strength. Everything turning dark. 3803's cytoplasm shivered in horror. How close...just how close had it been? Her gaze grew vacant as that realisation settled in.

Macrophage reassuringly squeezed her hand. "Indeed, but fortunately an NK cell was able to remove yours and destroy it in time. We've been taking care of you ever since. What you need now is rest and you'll be back in the blood vessels before you know it." 3803 heard all this, but her thoughts were divided; the new memories kept replaying before her eyes, until the immune cell lifted her chin, breaking the frightening loop. "Now, how about I get you some glucose?"

"Thank you," she replied somewhat weakly.

Almost playfully the maiden ruffled her crimson hair. "Don't worry; we'll get you back on your feet in no time."

Mustering a somewhat forced smile, 3803 nodded and her caretaker left. As soon as she was out the door the red blood cell let herself fall back on the bed. And allowed the tears to run. So close...so...

"Macrophage told me you were awake." 3803 practically jumped, suddenly sitting up straight in her bed again. "I see you actually made it."

The cell standing in the doorway, addressing her was a tall, rather muscular woman, but unlike the Macrophages she wore green shorts and a black top. Her unevenly cut, black hair covered the right eye, similar to 1146, but hers seemed completely straight. She remembered having seen cells dressed like her, always alone, never interacting with anyone. And this one seemed to be radiating confidence. "Are you an NK cell?" 3803 eyes widened. "Are you the one who...?" What other NK would have a reason to check on her?

The female lymphocyte nodded somewhat smugly, taking a single step into the room. "Killed your plasmodium? Yes, I..." But AE interrupted her.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Tears were streaming from her still reddened eyes now. "You saved my life!"

To her confusion however the NK cell looked annoyed. "Cut that out," she snapped. "Besides, I couldn't have helped you if it hadn't been for that neutrophil."

The erythrocyte blinked surprised. Neutrophil _... Sekkekkyū!_ ... Yes, she'd heard him. He'd been there! "You mean 1146?"

NK crossed her arms and nodded. "Yes; when he learned that you were among the infected erythrocytes he rushed off and returned you in arms just in time. If he hadn't found you, all I could have provided would have been a mercy-killing." A shudder went through 3803 upon hearing this and her eyes wandered to the sabre at the lymphocyte's hip. Fearfully she gulped.

But something else was bothering her even more, it had ever since she'd learned of the danger she'd been in. "Why does this keep happening to me? I must be the most helpless cell in this body," 3803 lamented, trying in vain to wipe the new tears from her eyes.

The NK cell shrugged indifferently. "Not more than all the other cells. Now calm down, I didn't come to hear this."

3803 sniffed, but managed to settle down a little. "Why did you come?" Even she had picked up on the fact that this immune cell didn't care about her, not beyond her job.

NK stepped closer to the bed, making the erythrocyte feel somewhat uneasy. 3803 couldn't help but peek at that sabre again. Plus that stare was scary, piercing even. "A bit of boredom, but mostly curiosity. 1146 is a rather odd one, bit of a softy really," NK pointed out and seemed to be examining the redhead with her penetrating gaze. "A while back he escorted a normal cell all across the digestive tract, just to save a few lactic acid bacteria. So, when he gets so upset about some random erythrocyte I wondered why."

"Well,...we're friends," 3803 all but muttered, blushing a little. "He's often helped me out, especially when I got lost and he has saved my life several times, ever since I've started to work in the blood vessels. It was a little rough for me at first and even now I seem to cross paths with germs every other day."

"So you're a klutz." NK rolled her eyes, looking somewhat disappointed. "I suppose there is something endearing about that, though I've never seen the appeal." Suddenly she turned around and simply walked away, without any sort of goodbye, only saying one more thing before disappearing. "Guess that only proves what I've already suspected about him."

Until Macrophage returned with the glucose, 3803 stared after NK, wondering what she meant.

* * *

Daily life in the body had returned to normal, nothing really reminding of the recent parasitic attack. Fortunately only a few dozen erythrocytes and hepatocytes had sadly died during the invasion, but as a whole their world had survived nearly unscathed. The massive search that had begun with NK, U-4989 and U-1146 was to thank for that.

Dendritic Cell had pretty much put the entire immune system on high alert and all neutrophils not occupied with the disposal of germs had vetted every erythrocyte, isolating all wearing jewellery, either until the NKs could save them or they sadly passed away, but without the threat of them further infecting others.

Meanwhile the T-Cells had been deployed and cleared the liver, killing every single remaining parasite but leaving behind some devastation. Still, things could have been so much worse.

Yet U-1146 could not celebrate the overall success. Throughout these past few days his mind had always returned to AE 3803, the image of her pale, lifeless body burned into his memory. He wasn't a stranger to death, far from it. Enemies, any number of cells from the body, even colleagues, but her...her near death had shaken him.

The discrepancy to all the other instances was confusing him. He had seen close friends gravely injured before, but this time the influence the incident had on him was severe.

Currently he was walking the broad brachial artery of the left arm, almost hoping that something would happen to distract him. Unfortunately for him, this part of the body often proved quiet, unless there was an abrasion, and even those more often occurred around the elbow and the hand. Suddenly he remembered that he was still holding the tea he'd gotten around the axilla and took a sip. Immediately he pulled a face, when he discovered that it was completely cold now and tasted unpleasantly bitter. Feeling a little annoyed with himself he threw away the cup into the next bin.

Frankly 1146 felt utterly restless, finding himself unable to relax, even on quiet patrols like this, as while he walked the blood vessels, his mind wandered back to 3803, back to him finding her, or to one of his visits to the bone marrow. Whenever he had time to spare he had checked on her, only to find the usually so cheerful erythrocyte still unconscious. The macrophages had done their best, of that he had no doubt, using the haemoglobin they had collected in the spleen to transfuse into the recovering erythrocytes.

 ** _Spleen_** _Organ that primarily serves as a blood filter. Among others it removes and destroys old or damaged erythrocytes via macrophages, which then proceed with the first step of degrading the haemoglobin, a process that is later continued in the liver._

While the first red blood cells had recently woken up, 3803 was among those who had not. If it hadn't been for her breathing, she would have appeared dead to him and yet he couldn't help himself but always check, his mind a little eased each time his fingers sensed her cytoplasm rushing when he felt for it.

His own helplessness in this matter only served to infuriate him, and he had come to channel that anger into the battles against any germ unlucky enough to cross his path.

Of course his three childhood friends had noticed these changes, and each of them had tried to help in their own way. U-4989 had attempted to distract him from his dark thoughts and cheer him up, only to find that his friend wasn't up for his shenanigans. U-2048 had offered to talk, lending an ear to whatever he needed to get off his chest, but with similar success. 1146 didn't even know what he could have said. Meanwhile U-2626, who had noticed that 1146 did pretty much nothing but walk in an effort to keep himself busy, had simply started to thrust germ soups and tea into his hands every time they met, not saying much, but showing a both pleading as well as sympathetic smile when he did.

1146 sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He knew they all meant well, but right now he wanted and needed to be alone for a while. If only 3803 would finally open her eyes.

* * *

 _Come on, one more step_. 3803 gritted her teeth, ordering her shaking legs to move. Sitting in bed, watching the children play while pleasant had become quite boring. She just wasn't used to being completely idle and though even Macrophage had told her to rest, the erythrocyte had decided to take a little walk.

She had however quickly discovered that she was far too weak for such an undertaking, and instead settled with walking around her room. Now she was leaning a little on the wardrobe, her bed just out of arm's reach. Evidently, and frustratingly, she was more deprived of strength than she had previously assumed.

Finally her legs obey. One step. Two.

Upon reaching her bed, 3803 simply let herself fall, her head landing face first in the pillow. Maybe that was enough for one day. Tomorrow; yeah tomorrow she would try again. She would make it all the way to the corridor!

Slowly, feeling a little disappointed by the results of her exercise, 3803 sat up and combed through her dishevelled hair with her fingers. Just in that moment the door opened, and she was greeted by a familiar white silhouette and cheery sounding voice.

"Why, look who's finally up."

"U-4989! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, her pout replaced by a bright smile. It was good to finally see a friend again.

The merrily grinning neutrophil closed the door behind him and stopped next to her bed. "Just wanted to check if you're doing alright; last time you looked about as pale as us, if not as lively. Plus 1146 has been rather irritable since the Plasmodium invasion," he admitted.

Her smile faltered. "Hakkekkyū-san?"

Suddenly 4989 looked oddly serious. "Not sure if anyone has told you, but he was the one, who found you already unconscious. Since then we didn't know for certain whether you would make it or...well, you know." He paused and readjusted his cap. "1146 has been quite restless ever since; he's actually been here a few times already, but you were never up. I can tell you that did nothing to improve his mood."

"Hakkekkyū-san," she whispered, framing her face with her own hands. "Oh, I'm nothing but a burden to him!"

The fluffy haired neutrophil was quick to dissent. "Whoa, don't say that! No one thinks of you that way, least of all 1146." He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Trust me I've known him since we were myelocytes and he loves his job, not just killing germs, but protecting others." He smiled. "Actually, that might be what he loves most about his job. Would explain why he always has to play hero."

She offered a timid smile in return. "He always does, doesn't he?" Still, 3803 just couldn't help but have mixed feelings about that. Always putting himself in danger. Her vision became blurry.

"Yeah." Alarmed when he suddenly saw her reaction, 4989 quickly reached out for her, though his hands stopped just short of touching the redhead again. "Hey, no need for tears! 1146 will phagocytise me, if he finds out I made you cry!"

3803 wiped away her tears. "Sorry," she sniffed. But she couldn't help but worry. Danger was part of their jobs, if to different degrees, but knowing that 1146 was literally throwing himself in harm's way was tearing at her.

4989, relieved she calmed down, smiled again. "Don't worry. I won't tell if you don't," he promised and winked cheekily. "So, how are you holding up?"

"Still a little weak," she admitted flushed. "I've walked through the room a little, but my legs keep shaking, though frankly I'm glad I can stand at all again." She was nonetheless a little embarrassed about her frailty.

Her neutrophil friend thankfully didn't seem to think less of her however. "Glad to hear; seems like your caretakers have been doing good work."

"Everyone has been really nice and they regularly come to check on me," 3803 confirmed. "Still, I can't wait to get out there again."

"Really?" he asked curiously.

She nodded. "Yeah; it's just weird being tied to a bed, not feeling like your usual self, you know."

"Oh, I know. I too got pretty badly injured once. Or twice."

"What happened?"

Somewhat abashed he rubbed his neck. "Well, you know how I like improvised weaponry?"

"Yes?"

"Let's just say one didn't work as intended, and a germ got the better of me for a moment," 4989 admitted sheepishly.

"But you still use improvised weapons?" she pointed out alarmed.

The neutrophil merely shrugged, clearly unconcerned. "I now know that particular one doesn't work, but it's no reason to dismiss all the others."

3803 sighed. "I guess as long as you're careful." He probably wouldn't be, but she would hardly be able to talk him out of it.

4989 tried to reply, but got interrupted when his transceiver suddenly went off. "U-4989 here," he quickly answered.

"U-2626: I have germs at the bladder; could use some backup!" a somewhat distorted voice shouted in response.

"Roger that. On my way." He gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, gotta go."

"No problem," 3803 assured him; frankly she was used to it, with 1146 often having to run off just as abruptly. "Good luck and stay safe."

"Thanks; see ya!" he shouted just as he rushed out through the door.

* * *

"Antigen sighted!" 2048 leaped forth, blade drawn, bloodlust rushing through him like a wildfire.

The bacterium in front of him was a centipede looking creature, though with a humanoid upper body, its carapace shimmering with a metallic green, its round jaws featuring sharp fangs. The neutrophil nimbly dodged a pointy leg as it tried to stab him through like a spear and rammed his knife into its lesser protected abdomen.

"Gaah!" the E. coli screamed in pain, bright red cytoplasm gushing forth from the wound.

"Die!" With one final blow 2048 sliced through its throat, the germ collapsing and twitching a few times before finally lying still.

The tide was low in the bladder currently, the coastline wide and already covered with the bodies of several E. coli.

 ** _Escherichia coli (E. coli)_** _Bacteria commonly found in the human intestine, with most strains being harmless. Others cause serious gastrointestinal infection (EHEC, ETEC, EPEC, EAEC and EIEC), while uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC) are responsible for the vast majority of urinary tract infections._

The none-immune cells had already made a run for it, leaving the battlefield to the invading germs and responding neutrophils. U-2048 saw 2626, who had been the first on the scene, stabbing another germ through the eye, wrestling it down. Not far away 1146 had managed to throw one E. coli on its back, before slashing across the unprotected belly and chest. Meanwhile 4989 seemed to try out a new weapon, which he used like a hammer, something that looked suspiciously like a road sign, though it was now illegible all covered in red.

There were a few more, he could have sworn he spotted U-2001 somewhere in the distance, and so he only managed to finish off three more germs before the battle was already over. 2048 took a moment to catch his breath, sheathing his blade and wiping some blood from the corner of his mouth. Calming down from the rush he joined his friends, who had gathered around a few E. coli bodies, all of them soaking wet and more red than white.

4989 was pulling the arrow-shaped sign out of a germ's crushed carapace, looking quite pleased with himself, while 1146 had his back turned to them, cleaning his blade. It wasn't like the latter's behaviour puzzled 2048, but he still worried for his friend, who had grown more distant lately. He of course knew why, but it didn't mean he liked it. Sadly 1146 had blocked any support they had tried to offer, and it seemed that wouldn't change for the time being.

One problem at a time. "You're alright 2626?"

His friend was crouching and still panting, having fought longer than any of them and it showed. His uniform was not only bright red, but covered with cuts and tears. "Yeah, just a few scratches. You guys got here fast," 2626 remarked with a grin regardless of his own appearance.

2048 looked about once more, watching the other neutrophils as they started to dispose of the bodies. "Still, I expected a few more germs than this; you sounded a bit stressed when you called."

"He probably just couldn't count them all that well," 4989 noted smirking, using a hand to imitate 2626's bangs, before he took a bite from a leg he'd just torn off.

2626 however was not insulted, shrugging indifferently in responds; he was long used to that kind of jokes. "Yeah, yeah, keep making fun of me. Hey, where's 1146?" All three looked around, but their childhood friend had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

2048 couldn't say that he was surprised. "I guess he ran off again. He's probably halfway to the bone marrow by now."

"Hm?" Eyes widening, 4989 spat out the germ he was chewing on again. "Dammit, I didn't even have time to tell him!" he exclaimed facepalming.

"Tell him what?"

"AE 3803 woke up. I was actually visiting her when the call came," U-4989 explained.

Finally. "That's gonna be a pleasant surprise for him then," 2048 noted. "How is she?"

"Still a bit pale, but quite lively again; she'll bounce back in no time," the fluffy haired neutrophil claimed confidently.

"Glad to hear it." While only having seen her a few times, she was no doubt a sweet and very kind erythrocyte. Hearing about her condition had been quite upsetting, making this the best news 2048 had received these last few days. Additionally, it would return 1146 to his old self.

2626 sighed relieved as well. "Yeah that's great news. Man, she really does have a knack for getting into trouble." He chuckled briefly. "No wonder 1146 gets along with her so well."

2048 nodded in agreement. "We should probably keep an eye on them both." He made a nod towards the other neutrophil. "Oh, and on 4989 as well."

"What did I do?"

U-2626 merely grinned, knowing what 2048 was referring to and waved the road sign.

"Hey it worked didn't it?!"

Amused 2048 shook his head. "Come on, let's take care of these bodies and clean up."

* * *

The young cells were playing outside again. AE3803 watched them with a smile on her lips, having just finished her meal, listening to their laughter from her little room, and wishing she could join them. This really was a beautiful place and so peaceful; as far as she knew her encounter with Pseudomonas had been unique. Crazy, how she always got herself into situations like that, but she loved working in the blood vessels nonetheless. She couldn't wait to get back to work.

Oh, her senpai was probably mad at her for getting into trouble again, but she had a point. Even to herself it was frustrating how often she needed saving. And it wasn't like she was looking for trouble, it was more like trouble knew where she was going and ambushed her on the way.

AE3803 was torn from her thoughts, when she heard the door opening once again. She expected Macrophage again, but was surprised to see someone else. And he seemed equally surprised.

"Hakkekkyū-san ..." She didn't manage to say more, as he was already by her side and before she knew it his arms were around her for a tight embrace. Her face was briefly pressed against his chest, making her gasp.

"You're alright," he whispered relieved into her hair and 3803's vision got blurry. "I'm so glad you're alright."

And the tears came freely. "H...Hakkekkyū-san," she cried, her hands clinging to his uniform; she noticed that it was damp. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I'm always getting into these messes. I'm so sorry." 3803 knew she was crying into his chest, but with her feelings running amok right now, she couldn't help herself.

A pair of firm, yet gentle hands finally moved her, separating them, before a thumb brushed across one of her cheeks, wiping the tears away. She needed to blink several times in order to see something again and once she did, 3803 found herself eye to eye with the neutrophil, her face carefully framed by 1146's hands. They felt pleasantly cool against her warm membrane and something about his soft gaze managed to calm her. "Don't be and don't blame yourself," he told her.

"I'm always making you save me; you always have to rescue me."

He frowned. "Do you honestly think I'm troubled by that?"

"I..."

He sighed and hugged her again, and 3803 couldn't help but feel her cytoplasm tingle, feeling comfortable and warm in his embrace, despite his body being cool. "I'm always going to protect you; that's my job, remember. Besides, I'd never forgive myself if I'd let anything happen to you."

"Hakkekkyū-san." It was all she could whisper before her voice gave out, and she hugged him back as well as she could with her arms still somewhat trapped between them. Still she managed to slip her hands to his back, burying her head in his shirt, trying not to sob again.

They stayed like this for a while, neither of them speaking.

3803 wished they could remain like this forever, a genuine smile of content and happiness spreading on her lips. He'd never done something like this before, physical contact usually being reserved for the times he saved her. Only she had occasionally clung to him out of fear, or taken him by the arm. This however was so much better.

But eventually he pulled back, 3803 immediately missing the contact, as he sat down on the bed next to her. Concern was still lingering in his visible eye. "How are you feeling?"

"Still a little weak, but fine actually," she admitted, sheepishly combing through her own hair, certain she was still flushed from the hug. "There's still that mark on my wrist, but it might disappear. What about you?"

"Hm?" 1146 looked puzzled by her question.

"Well, 4989 mentioned that you were worried," she explained.

His expression immediately softened, even though that hint of concern had not yet entirely disappeared from it yet. "Of course I was." He lowered his head, eye now hidden by the cap and even his voice sounded muted. "When I found you were on the brink of death...I didn't know, if I was too late, or if you would even be able to recover."

3803 remembered what the others had told her about what he'd done, how he'd reacted to her condition. She would have loved to hug him again, reassure him that she was alright, show him just how deeply grateful she was, but found herself too nervous to do so. It seemed too bold a move. "Thank you. Just for everything." It didn't manage to convey just how obliged she truly was, but she needed to say something. Anything.

"You don't need to..."

He looked astonished, when she stopped him by covering his mouth with her fingers. "If you won't let me say sorry, at least let me keep thanking you." Certain he would hear her out, she lowered her hand again. "You are always there for me, saving me, helping me out; who knows where I'd be without you."

"Lost?" 1146 offered, finally showing his earlier alleviation again.

"Hey!"

He chuckled briefly. "Sorry."

Shyly 3803 looked to the hand closest to her and placed hers upon it, squeezing his gently. Not wearing her gloves, she found herself briefly wondering what his hand actually felt like. "My point is you do so much that is not even remotely part of your job. You're...you're just such a wonderful person. I'm so grateful that you're my friend."

With her gaze lowered she couldn't see his reaction, but his reply cheered her. "As am I." Tilting her head 3803 saw him looking at their hands. "Would you do me one favour?"

"Of course," she quickly replied, sounding eager and excited, once more sitting up straight, beaming at him.

That warm feeling blossomed in her chest once more, when he squeezed her hand back and met her gaze. "Get well soon." There was that subtle smile she'd come to adore. "My breaks have been awfully dull lately."

3803 blushed. "I will. I still owe you a tea after all." It didn't feel like nearly enough to repay him, but right now, with him sitting next to her smiling, she couldn't be anything but merry. She would figure something out...later.


	3. Yersinia 1

Author's Note: Thanks again for your feedback. Now let's get started with some neutrophil-meddling.

* * *

 **Yersinia pseudotuberculosis**

 **Part 1**

It really was a beautiful day. AE 3803 found herself walking along the pulmonary vein back to the heart, almost skipping as she did. It was great to be back and she hadn't gotten lost on her first delivery today! Well, yesterday she had, but that had been her first day, so it wasn't too bad.

Her eyes wandered and while considering what snack to treat herself to, someone called her name. "AE 3803, you're back!"

Startled for a moment the young erythrocyte looked about, before she saw a familiar face in the crowd. Quickly she waved back to the brown-haired erythrocyte running towards her. "Senpai!" She shouted excitedly.

Her mentor put down her box and grabbed her by the shoulder, studying her with a look of obvious concern. "How have you been? Are you feeling alright?" AA 5100 had visited 3803 once during her stay in the bone marrow, but they hadn't seen each other in some time. Back then 3803 had actually just started to walk along the corridor outside her room, at an admittedly slow pace.

"Yep, I'm all good. It's my second day now." The cheery redhead assured her with a bright smile.

This seemed to relieve 5100, however a little frown remained. "So everything's going smoothly?"

"I may have gotten lost once or twice." 3803 admitted with a blush of embarrassment, one of her fingers playing with a curl of her hair.

Her senpai sighed, but thankfully made no comment and finally let go of her shoulders again. "You're not feeling tired or anything?"

"Nope; feeling great actually." Macrophage had been very insistent on having her stay until she had truly recovered. 3803 had protested, but failed to convince the immune cell. At least U-1146 had come to visit her on a pretty much daily basis, undeniably the best part of her days in the bone marrow.

"If you say so." AA 5100 was perhaps not entirely convinced, but nonetheless smiled at her warmly. "Just be careful for the time being, try to take it easy, maybe take a few more breaks, okay?"

"I will, senpai." 3803 promised, amused since 1146 had told her something very similar, when he'd heard of her imminent return to the blood vessels. Honestly, even though it sometimes felt as if she was being treated like an erythroblast, it was nice knowing that so many cared for her wellbeing. It really was great to be back.

* * *

It was a slow day and U-2048 had decided to enjoy the peace and quiet with a cup of tea, while watching the erythrocytes that walked past his bench. Like all leucocytes he loved the rush and the thrill of battle, but he still appreciated days like this. It was good to know that everything was alright.

Of course like all things, this didn't last. It was however not a germ that disturbed his break.

A vent nearby opened and U-4989 migrated into the blood vessel, followed by U-2626, making the neutrophil immediately frown questioningly. They were up to something, he just knew it. Not that he was necessarily opposed to whatever they had planned, but he would like to know what it was first.

As expected his two friends were quick to join him. "Hey, 2048. We've been looking for you." 4989 greeted him.

He gave a nod in return. "I thought so. So, what's up?"

"Good question; he wouldn't tell me." 2626 noted just as he sat down on the bench next to him.

"Well, there is something I've been wondering for a while now." The fluffy haired neutrophil began, shifting his weight from one foot to the other in an almost restless manner as he remained standing in front of them. Whatever he had in mind, or planned, it appeared to excite him.

2048 tilted his head curiously. "About what?"

"Well, 1146 to be honest." 4989 sighed. "He's been through a lot guys; I mean he nearly sacrificed himself fighting that Helicobacter pylori, fought cancer cell again, nearly died of his wounds alongside Eosinophil and now AE 3803 was nearly killed by that parasite. I feel like we should do something." He paused briefly. "And just to clarify, I'm talking about more than tea here."

"It has been rough lately." U-2626 admitted thoughtfully. "I guess we could try to take the pressure off; he does always try to play the hero, whether he realises it or not."

2048 leaned back and took another sip from his tea, thinking about it for a moment. "Question is how we would do that? I mean we could try to intercept germs before he even gets into the fight, maybe join him on patrols, so that he at least always has a bit of backup."

Suddenly 4989 displayed a rather mischievous grin. "True, but I also had another idea."

2626 smiled at this and 2048 couldn't help but chuckle a little; this they had expected. "Oh yeah, what did you have in mind?" The former asked.

"Recently I got to talk with AE 3803 a little more often and well, I just have the feeling those two are closer with each other than we'd thought."

"What exactly do you mean?" 2626 asked.

4989 raised a brow. "Aside from his reaction to her near-death experience?" He looked at them expectantly. "Or him basically always being there to save her, helping her out when she's lost, joining her on breaks and praising her efforts whenever possible?"

"Fair point."

"Besides haven't you guys noticed how she tends to stick around until the fighting is over and blushed when she's around him?" The other two nodded. "And I remember that one day he seemed to be following her. I spotted them first in the heart and a bit later he'd dealt with two germs I'd been tracking down, but then just left the bodies to me so he could follow her. It was really weird at the time. And after our encounter with the Staphylococcus aureus."

"You mean the one where we took a beating and had to be saved by the macrophages?" 2626 commented dryly; none of them liked to remember that particular encounter.

But 4989 only nodded excitedly. "That one! Well, right afterwards he offered 3803 to show her around the nasal cavities. I thought that was a bit odd, still covered in blood and debris."

His friend was not wrong. While 2048 hadn't seen them together as often, there was at least one incident he remembered. "Now that you mention it, during the Anisakis incident I do remember seeing her. She stuck around the entire time. Even when 1146 was covered in blood, head to toe after killing that Vibrio from the inside, she kinda looked more concerned, not horrified or disgusted as erythrocytes usually do." Back then it had astonished him, even though nowadays he didn't question it anymore. It just seemed to be how AE 3803 was.

By now 4989 all but waved his arms around. "You see; that's what I'm talking about! And you should hear how she talks about 1146; she really admires and cares about him."

"Okay, but how does all this relate to the problem at hand. You know, helping take the pressure off 1146?" 2626 inquired, and 2048 too was wondering what their friend was getting at.

4989 clapped his hands together. "I was thinking that if there is something more than friendship between them we perhaps should help them along."

The other two remained silent for a moment, before 2626 spoke what they both thought. "You want us to play matchmakers?"

Their friends shrugged, yet smiled at them hopefully. "Basically. You can't deny that they like spending time together. Like a lot of time."

"So we should help with some sort of last push." 2048 clarified; it was an…interesting proposition.

"Yes!" 4989 almost shouted cheerily, clearly loving this idea. "Come on, having a girlfriend should really cheer him up, take his mind of things, especially one who isn't always talking about killing germs."

2048 frowned; it wasn't like they never spoke about anything else. Here they were, after all, but 4989 had a point. It was obvious to anyone that the two liked each other, still… "It's actually not a terrible idea, but first we should really find out where they really stand."

4989's smile faltered. "Huh?"

2048 rolled his eyes. "Come on, if they don't have any romantic interest in each other we might end up messing up their friendship." Frankly the last thing he wanted to do was ruin their relationship, whatever it truly was and he had no doubt that his friends were equally opposed to that.

"Hadn't thought of that, but how would we figure that out?" 4989's mouth twisted while he considered the problem. "Guess we have to talk to them."

It seemed 2626 was frowning, though it was difficult to tell with those bangs. "And what do we say? ' _Hey, U-1146 do you have a crush on AE 3803?_ '"

2048 shook his head. "Of course not that directly. We just have to steer the conversation towards the person in question and get them to talk about the other. Or at least observe their reactions to our remarks. Maybe they reveal something that can give us a definitive clue."

2626 nodded. "Sounds good to me." He looked to his friends. "So, who gets to talk to whom?"

For a while they all considered their options. Neither of the two should notice, after all. To 2048 that only really left one option. "4989, perhaps you can speak with AE 3803; you've spent more time with her than either of us, so she should be most comfortable talking with you. Meanwhile, 2626 and I can join 1146 on patrol."

4989 evidently had no objections and smiled brightly. He probably was also happy that his friends were going along with his idea so readily. "Alright, let's get started."

* * *

The good thing about the descending aorta was that it happened to be a large, rather straight blood vessel, leading down from the heart. Even AE 3803 had a hard time getting lost here. She'd been following it for a bit now and was humming a merry tune, when she spotted a white blood cell. A rather familiar one.

As soon as he looked her way, she waved, not wanting to shout over the other erythrocytes. He waved back and came her way. "Hey, red blood cell." He greeted her warmly.

"Good to see you again, U-4989."

"Glad you see you're back to work. How are you feeling?"

She had a feeling that she would be answering this particular question a few more times in the foreseeable future. Still, at this point she didn't mind. "I'm fine, back to a hundred percent." 3803 assured him happily.

He smiled in return. "That's great; so where are you headed?"

"Oxygen for a thigh muscle-cell." She replied, lifting the box her arms.

"I'm actually going on patrol around the kidneys. Mind if I walk with you for a bit?"

"I'd love that." A few other red blood cells looked at them curiously, but 3803 simply ignored it; she was used to it, given that she got those stares every time she walked with 1146 as well. "Any adventures I missed out on?" She asked as the two started to walk.

4989 merely shrugged. "Nothing particular really, it actually has been rather calm recently. Though 1146 has finally stopped being all gloomy." He reported, visibly delighted about that.

"Really?" Of course she knew that 1146 had been incredibly relieved to see her recover, yet it hadn't stopped him from treating her as if she could collapse again at any moment. At least that's how it had appeared to her. But it was good to hear that he didn't constantly fear for her. His job was stressful enough at it was.

The neutrophil nodded. "Yeah, ever since he learned you woke up, actually. Knowing you not only survived but were finally recovering was really alleviating. The change was instant." He noted, flicking his fingers.

To hear this truly warmed her cytoplasm. "It was so nice of him to come visit. I hope I wasn't too self-pitying; somehow I can't help but constantly make a fool out of myself." She mentioned, blushing a little.

"I wouldn't worry about it; he likes you." 4989 assured her with a comforting smile. "Come on, as soon as he heard you were in danger he rushed off to find you. And not only did he carry you in his arms back to NK, but all the way to the bone marrow, before joining us on our hunt for the remaining parasites. A little awkward moment isn't gonna change anything."

3803 felt her face heating up further; surely the blush was covering her entire face now. "Wouldn't he have done that for anyone?" She all but mumbled.

The neutrophil shrugged. "Well, he does help everyone whenever and however he can, but he really was afraid for you. He wouldn't have gotten that worked up for just anyone. I mean he visited you any chance he got while you were unconscious; we had to remind him to rest and eat once in a while. 2626 actually did a very good job… huh?"

3803 had simply stopped walking and stared at him. In her mind she could suddenly only think of 1146's warm embrace. _I'd never forgive myself if I'd let anything happen to you._ U-4989 was right, he did care. Like really care. He always seemed to be there when she needed help or required rescue from a pathogen and he was among the few, who truly listened to her. As a matter of fact, now that she thought about it, he actually happily listened, always greeting her with a warm if subtle smile when they met. At least when he wasn't hunting down or fighting a germ.

"Hey Red Blood Cell, are you alright." 4989 looked a little concerned as he waved with his hand in front of her face.

"What? Oh, yes." She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something."

"Daydreaming? Careful; you'll start getting lost again." He teased her with a grin.

3803 couldn't help but pout a little. "Don't say that. And I'm really getting good at finding my way around the body now."

"Just kidding." 4989 replied grinning, rubbing the back of his head. "But while we are still on the topic, I remember you acting kinda similar when 1146 was critically injured."

The warmth vanished at that particular memory. "Yes. Seeing him like that…I mean even in the direst situations I've seen him get back on his feet and keep on going." She gulped, trying her best to banish the horrible images from her mind. "Thank you, for having been there for me." She added lowly.

4989 put a comforting hand on her shoulder, a gesture she greatly appreciated. "Hey, no problem. It was difficult for me too, after all we did grow up together and there he goes again throwing himself into danger. That big-hearted idiot." He added fondly, making 3803 smile.

Idiotic or not, it was an aspect of 1146 she adored. Every time there was danger, his first concern was the well-being of others, making sure they were alright before heading into battle. And the caring way he always helped out the platelets. She clearly remembered him carrying several of them during both the heat stress and initial blood pressure rise during the haemorrhagic shock-incident, making sure they weren't accidently trampled by the erythrocytes as they rushed through the blood vessels. 4989 was right; he loved helping others.

"Well, he wouldn't be 1146 if he wasn't." She pointed out and 4989 nodded.

"True." He agreed. "Just wish he'd be a little more careful or would at least wait for backup once in a while. You worry too, right?"

"Of course! You guys are constantly on the front lines; I wouldn't want any of you to get hurt." She hugged her box tightly. "But he always makes it back. Always." He had to.

"Don't worry." 4989 squeezed her shoulder now. "We make sure he does."

"Thank you." She said, feeling her face flush again.

He winked. "Oh, and of course we'll watch out for you too."

"What?"

Quickly 4989 lifted his hands in defence. "Well, 1146 would probably phagocytise us, if we allowed anything to happen to you."

"Or you make me cry." She reminded him, before her eyes widened. "Wait, is that why you're tagging along?"

Quickly he shook his head with another smile on his face. "Nah, you're just fun to talk with. Don't know about you, but I'm having a blast; this is way better than walking the entire way alone."

"I guess it is."

"Guess?" He pouted overdramatically, making her laugh.

"Okay, it is more fun."

And his grin returned. "Told you."

* * *

1146 was heading up towards the pharynx, a fresh tea in his hand and a content smile on his lips. It had been a good few days, calm days and to his delight even Sekkekkyū was back. It had been difficult to see her struggle with tasks as simple as walking, but as always she'd proven to be very resilient and determined, improving notably with each day. Her wonderful smile, so filled with elation, when she had first been able to run again.

The memory of that warmed him more than any tea could have. Which reminded him; they still had to meet for one. Hopefully they would find the time soon.

He was about halfway up the common carotid artery, when someone behind him shouted his designation. "Oi 1146, wait up!"

The neutrophil turned around and to his surprise saw both U-2626 and U-2048 coming his way, the former having called out to him. "What are you guys doing here?"

2048 smiled. "Joining you, of course. The face has so many entry gates for germs; it's only a matter of time until you need backup."

"Plus the nasal cavities are always a nice stop." 2626 added with a grin.

1146 shrugged indifferently; he already knew he couldn't talk it out of them that never worked. Besides, being his childhood friends he didn't mind. Perhaps they were also still worried about him, so if this would finally ease their minds. "Alright, let's go."

…

The three continued on unhurriedly, all erythrocytes overtaking them due to their slow pace, but as usual always leaving a notable space between themselves and the neutrophils. Knowing that 1146 was not one to initiate conversations, 2048 decided to start one. They had a mission after all. "You know I can't decide whether it's nice or boring that so little has happened recently." He admitted truthfully.

2626 shrugged. "Bit of both really, though it's a shame that every time something interesting happens it's also potentially world-ending."

"We should enjoy the peace while it lasts; there will be different times again." 1146 pointed out, taking another sip from his tea.

"True enough." 2048 agreed.

2626 looked around. "Though I could really do without the red blood cells being all jumpy around us. I mean I kinda understand when we're all covered in blood and yelling, but even now? Come on."

"I'd like to say I'm used to it, but it is somewhat annoying." 2048 confessed, watching the erythrocytes; it was a busy vessel, the common carotid artery after all, yet every other blood cell was more than an arm-length away. Nonetheless he mustered a smile. "But hey, it's not all of them."

"Huh?" 2626 grinned knowingly. "Oh yeah, AE 3803. Shame she is the only one really." From the corner of his eye 2048 saw 1146 nod once, before taking another sip. "I remember the first time I ran into her. It was just after a Streptococcus invasion and she just approached me offering me a tissue." 2626 started to laugh. "I must have stared at her utterly baffled for a full minute or something."

"I guess I first noticed her in the stomach, just after this guy." 2048 pointed at 1146. "Had the brilliant idea of killing a Vibrio from the inside. Tissues weren't quite enough that day."

"They rarely are, but it's a nice gesture nonetheless." 1146 pointed out.

Time to push. "Speaking of her, how is she recovering?" 2048 asked, hoping to sound inconspicuous.

"Quite well; it's actually her second day back on the job." As he spoke his lips shifted into a genuine, warm smile. Still, as subtle as it was, a casual beholder could possibly have missed it, but not his friends. "It's good to see her back on her feet."

"I can imagine." 2048 replied, trying not to grin. "Hopefully she isn't out of practice navigating the circulatory system."

"She's gotten quite good at it. I hardly have to help her anymore." It almost sounded like he lamented that fact, or perhaps 4989 had really gotten to 2048 and he was starting to hear things.

Meanwhile 2626 chuckled. "Doesn't exactly keep you from running into her."

2048 tilted his head and raised a brow, when he saw the faintest touch of pink adoring 1146's visible cheek. Was his friend actually blushing? "True, but I'm still glad she's getting proficient at her job. She never lacked the passion for it."

"Stubborn one, huh?" 2048 noted.

He nodded. "You could say that; regardless of what others say about her, she keeps going. Even through the hypovolemic shock, she never quit." This time the admiration was undeniable there in his voice.

"Should we be getting jealous?" 2626 asked with a grin and they both watch their friend pull at his cap. Not an unusual gesture, but the timing was telling.

 _Interesting_ , 2048 thought to himself. "Her sense of orientation aside, feels like we could use more like her."

2626 nodded and evidently decided to push a little further yet. "Yeah; I'm glad she survived that parasite after all." He added. "That was a close call."

When 2048 peeked at his friend again he nearly froze. Where there had been a warm smile and a faint blush there was now a cold, determined glare that would have made platelets run in terror. The grip around the teacup had tightened, folds appearing around the fingers. It nearly crumbled in the fist 1146 made, but thankfully it was already empty by now.

1146 didn't say anything however and 2048 suddenly had the distinct feeling that whatever germ was foolhardy enough to even threaten AE 3803 in the future, would meet a terrible and gruesome end. At this point it was clear to him that 4989 had actually been right; it was the only explanation he could think of that would explain such an intense reaction. They had their answer.

"Hey, 1146; you're alright?" 2048 finally asked carefully.

Immediately his friend's gaze softened, as if he'd been torn from deep thoughts. "Hm?" 1146 merely replied visibly calming, but not relaxed. "Oh, yeah."

2626, having noticed his reaction as well cleared his throat. "So,…anyone else up for another tea?"

* * *

Somewhere along the terminal ileum, close to the caecum where the small intestine opened into the large intestine, a macrophage walked peacefully through the tissue. Everything was working in perfect order, quite an accomplishment given the size of the digestive tract. Her uneventful day however was eventually interrupted, when she noticed a small maroon coloured creature that was making its way through the walls of the intestine.

Casually tightening the grip on her axe she approached what she quickly identified as a germ. By the time she reached it, the bacterium had made it through the wall of intestinal epithelial cells, lifting itself up with its many tentacle-like appendages.

It turned its head, a look of surprise on its grey face, when it saw the macrophage, axe lifted for the first strike. And that was all it took.

Bright red cytoplasm leaked to the ground around the dead body, a bit splashing on her wide dress. Business as usual.

The macrophage picked up the germ, examining it more closely. Strange, she hadn't seen one like this before; better to present it just in case.

Humming satisfied she began to drag the germ with her, bloodied axe resting relaxed against her shoulder. The closest immune tissue was one of the Peyer's patches. In fact it only took her a few minutes to reach it and she entered through the large, two-winged doors.

The inside looked like a storage room for food, filled to the ceiling with baskets, boxes and flagons, a farce to lure in bacteria, unaware that the Peyer's patch was in fact a lymphoid tissue. Almost as soon as she'd entered, the macrophage was approached by a male cell, dressed similarly to a waiter of a high-end restaurant.

"Miss Macrophage, a pleasure to see you." He greeted her friendly, making a little curtsey.

"The pleasure is mine, M Cell." She replied with a warm smile and lifted the maroon germ. "I was wondering; have you ever seen a bacterium like this?"

For a few moments he examined the bacterium closely, rubbing his chin in deep thought. "Mmh, can't say I have." He finally said.

"Ah, what a shame." She really would have liked to know.

"Miss Macrophage?" He suddenly said and she noticed that he wasn't looking at her or the germ.

"Yes?"

M Cell nodded to spot behind her, making her turn around, her eyes darting to the still open doors. "It appears you've been followed."


	4. Yersinia 2

Author's Note: Now things get really moving...

* * *

 **Yersinia pseudotuberculosis**

 **Part 2**

The three neutrophils had agreed to meet again near the heart after finishing their patrols, hopefully having drawn some informative sentiments from U-1146 and AE 3803 about each other. 4989 had been the first to make it to the agreed upon meeting point, pacing up and down until his two friends arrived from the superior vena cava.

Together they sat down on one of the many benches along the wall, as far away from the main road as possible. 2626 handed each of them a germ soup, which he'd picked up along the way, but 4989 was too excited to start eating right away. "So, what did you guys uncover?" He asked abuzz, eyes bright, a broad smile on his lips.

The other two exchanged glances, before 2048 answered. "We're pretty certain 1146 has a crush on her."

"I think he even blushed a little at one point." 2626 added amused, while opening his cup carefully to keep the soup from spilling.

"What, really?" 4989 looked surprised, but was feeling a bit disappointed to have missed that. Well, if all worked out, he'd get a chance to see it as well.

2626 nodded. "Yeah, we started talking about how nice and quiet everything was, the usual annoyance of frightened erythrocytes and went on to mention how sweet it is that at least AE 3803 seems comfortable around us. Upon that he started praising her and his cheek went pink." He briefly paused, his smiled fading exchanged by a somewhat bashful expression. "Then I may have noted how fortunate it is that she didn't die from that parasite."

Oh; even 4989 realized that it must have touched a nerve.

"He got real quiet at that point; we were a little worried for a moment." 2048 continued, his expression and tone revealing that 1146's reaction had surprised him. "Seriously, I think I actually have pity with any germ that even attempts to harm her in the future."

"But he probably didn't admit to anything."

2048 shook his head. "Personally I don't think he's even realised it himself; that or he's in denial. I mean romantic relationships aren't commonly our thing, it's usually between erythrocytes. And even among them it's rare." At least as far as they knew.

With them patrolling through the bloodstream, the neutrophils occasionally saw erythrocyte couples, but that didn't necessarily rule out all other types of cell. There were plenty they didn't see on a regular basis after all. But 2048 had a point; it seemed possible that even if 1146 had a crush on 3803 that he didn't knew what those feelings really meant. 4989 himself had only figured it out by observing them both over a period of time and putting all signs together.

Meanwhile 2626 shrugged and started to eat. "In any case I think he's in the right spot to get a little push. How about AE 3803?"

4989 grin made a triumphant return. He hadn't lied when he had told Red Blood Cell that he enjoyed talking to her. She was delightful and fun company; he couldn't help but be in a good mood around her with that cheerful personality and kind disposition. And her demeanour towards 1146 was just adorable.

"Same. She couldn't really stop blushing as we talked about him." 4989 reported satisfied. "When I reminded her how he carried her during the Plasmodium invasion she turned as red as her jacket and earlier her eyes were practically shining when I mentioned how concerned he is with her wellbeing. Not to mention that she really cares about him…about us a little too, which is just so sweet." To think that there was an erythrocyte, who did. "But honestly, I don't think she needs a push, just the courage." From what he could judge she was just too shy to admit her feelings, rather than being unaware. Under the right circumstances, 4989 was convinced the truth would simply blurt out of her.

2048 smiled at this information and nodded. "Well, I guess we have a mission then." He noted.

"Any idea how we should go about it?" 2626 asked, looking up from his soup.

All three remained silent, staring at each other for what felt like a long time. 4989 frankly hadn't been able to come up with a good idea so far, one of the reasons why he had approached his friends in the first place. He'd hoped they would have some ideas. Sighing disappointedly at their lack of creativity, including his own, the fluffy haired neutrophil decided to finally start eating as well.

"This could be harder than I thought. I mean they shouldn't know we meddled." 2626 confessed a few minutes later, having finished his meal first.

"We have to get them to meet, which frankly is the easy part, but they need the time and the right location." 2048 pointed out, probably thinking out loud.

"Even if they talk, we can't make sure the right topics are going to be addressed or that they'll confess their feelings." 2626 reminded him, throwing his empty box into the nearby bin, making 4989 duck reflexively, despite it not even flying all that close by his head.

2048 nodded and finished his soup as well. "That's why we need the right location."

"So…can anyone think of a place?" 4989 asked curiously, hoping for any suggestion really. He was eager to get this started.

2626 just rubbed the back of his neck. "A romantic place where we can send the two without them noticing? Where they'll be undisturbed? Not off the top of my head, no." He admitted.

4989 pulled a bit of a face, while 2048 sighed and stood up. "How about we all do a bit of brainstorming and figure something out next time we meet? Who knows maybe one of us will have the right epiphany, or by chance come across the right place on the next patrol. There's no point in forcing it, if we want to do this right." He pointed out and after a moment of hesitation the other too nodded in agreement.

"Probably for the best." 4989 confessed, even though he would have loved to finalize a plan here and now. Part of his mind was still rummaging his memory for anything useful. Eventually however he shrugged and waved his friends goodbye. "Well, I gotta get back on patrol. See you guys later." It was his turn to join 1146 for his route through the intestine. Couldn't have him die now of all times, now could he?

* * *

Before starting her trip back to the lungs, AE 3803 decided to take a little break. Glucose in hand, sitting on a bench in the shadow of a tree, she enjoyed a peaceful moment, the box with CO2 resting next to her. It really was a nice day and she was glad that her first two back were not marked by any pathogen attacks. She got caught up in such incidents often enough as it was.

It seemed like U-4989 had been right about things being quiet lately. Hopefully this meant that U-1146 could relax a little as well. He always worked so hard without ever complaining. And yet he still always found time for her. If only they could spend more together.

3803 could feel her cheeks warming up at the notion.

Funny how sooner or later her thoughts always turned to him, but how could they not? They saw each other on a nearly daily basis and besides he was her constant savoir. Honestly he had become something like her best friend.

AE 3803 looked up from her glucose. Other red blood cells continued to pass by, some chatting with one another, though most walked alone. It was then she spotted a pair that had stopped next to another one of the trees, lining the street. They were standing close together and to her surprise 3803 noticed that they were holding hands, their boxes on the ground. Only a moment later threw the female erythrocyte her arms around the male for a tight hug.

3803 blushed a bit, not because of the sudden display of affection in front of her, but because she remembered 1146 cytoskeleton-crushing embrace in the bone marrow. Would he ever do something like that again? She truly hoped so, but it had been the first time he'd ever done something like that.

Her musing was interrupted when she saw the hug being concluded with a kiss initiated by him.

And the image in her head suddenly changed.

Hakkekkyū not hugging, but kissing her. This time AE truly felt heat rise to her cheeks and quickly she pulled her beret down, desperate to hide her face, which she could only assume was matching her hair now.

Why was she even thinking that?

The harder she tried to brush the thought aside, the clearer it became, the more detailed. She shook her head rapidly in an attempt of suppressing the questions of what it would be like to kiss, or what his membrane would feel like without their gloves. Would it feel cool, because of the showers he took daily at the wash station?

No; stop it!

Her line of thoughts was finally interrupted, whether thankfully or regretfully so she couldn't say, when her glucose began to run over her fingers.

Hastily she ate the rest and then stared vacantly at her ruined glove. Seriously, why was she even having these ideas?

Sure he saved her, supported her, always listened, more than anyone else, even her senpai. He was strong, reliable and so deeply compassionate, even though he could appear so aloof and cold at first. 3803 had really meant it when she'd called him a wonderful person and admittedly he was quite easy on the eyes…oh, that's why.

Timidly she looked up just a little, seeing the couple still standing there in a loving embrace.

Was it really that what she wanted too? With Hakkekkyū? Once more she thought back to the hug, the warm feeling the way her cytoplasm had tingled. Seriously, how had she not noticed these feelings earlier?

It begged another question, an important question though. Could he feel something remotely similar for her?

She was his friend sure, but a klutzy friend who had needed weeks to finally do her job right once. Sure he was always polite, but that didn't rule out the possibility that it bothered or annoyed him secretly just a little. Even her fellow erythrocytes made fun of her after all.

Of course she knew he really cared for her, she'd fully realised that much during her conversation with 4989. If he didn't, he wouldn't have done all that he had for her, but that didn't mean he liked her…that way. He had hugged her that one day, but never before or since. There was always a little distance between them.

She sighed. What was she thinking? She'd said it herself to him; he was a friend, her best friend perhaps, but still just that. Even if she confessed her little crush, if it even was that, how would he react? She'd never seen any leucocyte with a romantic partner, even among other cell-types it was a comparatively rare thing, or so she believed. And somehow intimacy didn't seem like it would be his strong-suit. Would he be confused or worse repulsed by it?

Troubled 3803 hugged herself. Now that she had, there was no real way to un-realise this. Of course she could try and act normally around him, but would she be able to? Meeting him always cheered her up, made her feel warm inside and she'd found herself looking for him on her deliveries. She could only imagine that she would react even more strongly now that she knew why.

But she didn't want to stop seeing him either; the very idea seemed horrible, heart-breaking even. So what was she supposed to do? Suddenly she remembered something 4989 had mentioned. _A little awkward moment isn't gonna change anything._ The thought managed to make her smile a bit, even if a little nervously so. If that was true maybe she could do something. Small gestures perhaps, nothing too bold or noticeable, something only she would be aware of. She would think of something.

* * *

"So, you are tagging along this time?"

"Yep." 4989 announced cheerily.

1146 raised a brow. "Any particular reason the three of you have decided to suddenly shadow me everywhere?" Earlier today he'd parted ways with U-2048 and 2626, yet not long after he had started is patrol around the lower abdomen, following his break, 4989 had suddenly shown up.

"Well you have some pretty busy patrol routes currently; it just seemed like a good idea." His friend replied with a shrug. "I mean when was the last time we went around the digestive tract without anything happening?"

"Never." 1146 admitted dryly.

4989 grinned, arms spread. "Exactly, so here I am."

The neutrophil chuckled and the two continued on through the blood vessel. The window front to their left allowed them to watch the activity within the intestine itself; sometimes when 1146 looked he even saw good bacteria swimming by.

The two neutrophils walked for some time, when suddenly at a crossroad their receptors went up, starting to ring. "See, here we go." 4989 noted, pointing at his.

"Yeah, but what direction?" That was the problem with them; the receptors only told them that there was something in their proximity, not where.

"Appendix maybe." 4989 rushed into the artery to the right, but he'd only made a few steps, when the receptor stopped ringing. "Or not."

"This way, come!" They dashed down another street and this time the receptors stayed active. Now that they were on the right track, both neutrophils drew their blades, eyes darting back and forth, searching for the intruders. Suddenly 1146 heard something breaking not too far away and his head turned abruptly. At the end of the side street he saw opened doors. "The Peyer's patch?" He wondered aloud.

4989 ran ahead, his eyes wide and filled with bloodlust. 1146 was just behind him, but his friend made it through the doorway first into the dimly lit storeroom. He immediately saw them, at least a dozen maroon coloured germs with several tentacle-like flagella, ending in what looked like sharp claws. They surrounded the resident M Cell and to his surprise a macrophage with shoulder long, brown hair, who had her bloodied axe lowered. In fact she was leaning on it.

4989 rammed his knife into an unsuspecting germ's neck, while 1146 grabbed another by the head, pulling it back to cut clean through its throat. There was cytoplasm, but there also was a weird sizzling sound. 1146 looked at his knife and to his shock saw that it was corroded, steam rising from it. What the…? There wasn't a capsule, he was sure he'd cut through.

"What is going on here?!" 4989 cursed angrily, his own weapon in a similar condition.

Something was wrong. 1146 and 4989 joined the other two cells at the centre forming a ring of their own to better defend themselves. 1146 glared to the germ he'd attack and gritted his teeth when he saw that it was still standing, wounded, but alive. It was grinning.

He looked more closely and saw that its maroon shell was shimmering, as if coated with something. Enzymes? If that was true, they would have to find a way to break that barrier first before they could damage them.

"Macrophage? Are you alright?" He asked the female cell, struggling to stay on her feet next to him.

"I don't feel so good." The macrophage replied; there was cytoplasm all over her dress, some of which had to be hers. She tried to lift her weapon, but almost immediately sank to her knees, letting the axe fall to the ground. "Oh my, this is heavy."

"M Cell! Why wasn't there a response? Where is everyone else?" 4989 yelled, baring his teeth as he eyed the bacteria with barely contained fury.

"We weren't able to send out a signal!" M Cell shouted back, delivering a swift kick against one of the germs as it suddenly attacked, sending it flying against a crate that shattered upon impact. "I don't know what they're doing, but they are suppressing our communication!"

"Dammit." 1146 cursed under his breath.

"We can't do this on our own!" 4989 snarled, blocking a couple of flagella strikes with his knife.

Given the sheer number, 1146 couldn't help but agree, considering that their weapons were near useless. As far as he could see, there was only a single dead bacterium around. They really needed aid. He turned to the weakened leucocyte kneeling next to him. "Macrophage, can you still walk?"

"Why yes, I believe so." She replied, still catching her breath. There was cytoplasm running from her lips.

She wouldn't survive a battle. Injured and weak as she was, the macrophage needed medical attention, but 1146 new that she wouldn't abandon a fight just to save herself. But there was another way. "We need the lymphocytes." He told her insistently. "Until then, we hold the line."

She looked up and regarded him for a moment before nodding. "Of course." The macrophage managed to rise to her feet, swaying only slightly. With one hand she grabbed the only dead germ. "Best of luck, neutrophil."

1146 nodded and threw himself at the bacterium right in front of him. The creature seemed surprised and tried to strike first, but 1146 deflected a flagellum and swiftly took hold of the second. He had to make a path. With all strength he pulled and slammed the germ against a second, both crashing into several crates.

The macrophage used the created opening in the ring of bacteria and made for the door. A germ tried to ensnare her legs with its flagella, but 1146 stepped on them, glaring coldly at the creature. Not a chance.

They had to keep the intruders here. Perhaps he could call in more neutrophils; even if they couldn't kill the bacteria, they could still help keep them in check. 1146 looked to his transceiver and froze for a moment. It had been cut and tiny sparks were flying from it. When? He thought he'd dodged and blocked all attacks.

He heard cruel snickering and he glared to the bacteria, a few of which tried to separate him from the other two, who were still fighting. 4989 was wrestling with one, a flagellum between his teeth, causing the germ obvious pain. Whatever these things were, they were good, or at least they knew what they were doing better than most bacteria he encountered.

1146 grabbed his knife more tightly. Let them come.

With a snarl, one germ leaped at him. Quickly he tossed one of the big flagons at it, forcing the bacterium to destroy it fist. 1146 used the opening to ram his knee into the germs stomach, before slicing through its grey face. It hissed in pain this time and fell back. If only he could kill them; it was infuriating.

He and the other two continued their dangerous dance of blocking, parrying and dodging. Sometimes the sharp tips of the appendages would graze 1146, cutting through his uniform and in rare cases his cell membrane. Scratches, nothing more. Bit and pieces eventually began to crumble from his weapon however.

"Argh!" Two flagella had wrapped themselves around M Cells legs, pulling him off his feet. Both neutrophils tried to grab him, but he was dragged away too quickly between the bacteria.

"M Cell!" 1146 shouted.

"Damn you, bastards!" 4989 roared, trying to get to M Cell, but was pushed back by another series of attacks he was forced to block, with one slicing across his thigh.

They heard M Cell struggle, but he was out of view, unreachable for either of them. 1146 snarled, when a claw-like tip cut across his shoulder, another attack forcing him to take a step back as well. He bumped against something and turning his head now found himself back to back with 4989, both of them panting.

They were covered with mostly shallow cuts, making this one of the few occasions that the cytoplasm on their uniforms was mostly their own.

The bacteria moved closer and the sounds of struggled died behind them. 1146 adjusted his stance, eyes narrowed; he would neither allow 4989 nor himself to fall to these creatures. Not today.

Then two germs came at him at once, one to his left, the other to his right. The tentacle-like flagella would surround him and his friend was occupied, blocking yet another attack. Perhaps he could use the same move he'd used to create a path for the macrophage.

"Take that!" Suddenly one of the germs was sent flying through the air, cytoplasm spraying.

1146 turned and to his relief saw none other than a familiar black-clad lymphocyte with short blond hair. "Memory T!"

"Now you neutrophils can't even take care of a few bacteria? Pathetic." The former Killer T-Cell noted, cracking his knuckles, his fellow cytotoxic cells appearing behind him at the entrance.

"These aren't exactly your common germs." 1146 snarled back, lifting his partly disintegrated knife.

Memory T-Cell critically lifted a brow and looked at the germs. "Yersinia." He noted. "Let's finish this quickly."

 ** _Yersinia pseudotuberculosis_**

 _A bacterium usually causing mild, self-limited illnesses, with fever, abdominal pain or cramps, as well as vomiting or diarrhoea. Especially in children however the symptoms can mimic appendicitis, due to an infection of the nearby terminal ileum (pseudo appendicitis), leading to unnecessary appendectomies._

 _The bacterium can adhere to small intestinal epithelial cells and after it has been taken up by macrophages it proliferates/multiplies, as it is brought to the Peyer's patches or other lymph nodes for presentation._

 _It possesses several virulence factors, traits, which contribute to its pathogenicity (potential/capacity to cause a disease), proteins/enzymes which among others can inhibit phagocytosis or an inflammatory response, allowing it to evade the immune system, or even cause the apoptosis of phagocytes._

Just as viciously as against any virus, the T-Cells got to work, cytoplasm spraying with each delivered punch and kick. This battle would be over soon.

"What of the macrophage?" 1146 asked. She'd been in a bad condition even back when the two of them had arrived. Perhaps if her wounds had been taken care of soon enough…

"Fallen." Memory T-Cell growled his expression grim. "Injuries were too severe." First M Cell and now this. A new wave of rage washed through 1146. These monsters would pay dearly, if he had to tear them limb from limb.

And now he could.

The T-Cells' punches were shattering the coated shells protecting the Yersinia, leaving bare the grey membrane beneath. Just the opening he needed. Payback time.

Both he and 4989 leaped forth, baring their teeth, more than eager to finally draw some blood. Despite being severely damaged, their blades cut though the now exposed intruders, finishing off any that survived the initial T-Cells' strikes. There was an undeniable sense of satisfaction 1146 derived from their just deaths, from being finally able to fulfil his duty.

"One is escaping!" One of the cytotoxic cells suddenly shouted.

1146 whirled around, spotting a Yersinia at the door, its coated shell broken, leaving it vulnerable. "On it!" Like a white bolt of lightning he went after it, sizzling knife gripped tightly. He would not allow this germ to escape.

The Yersinia became immediately aware of its pursuer and ran for its life. It hastily dashed into the bloodstream, using its many flagella to evade the erythrocytes, sticking to the walls like a spider, but 1146 remained close behind. Most cells instinctively made way, or were frightened by his tattered and bloodied appearance.

Noticing that it wasn't shaking him off, the germ fled into a smaller, diverging vessel, probably hoping to get out of sight, by leaping down a bridge to a lower level.

Not bothering with the stairs, 1146 jumped after it, free hand outstretched, hearing cytoplasm rushing in his ears.

He took hold of a flagellum, just as his boots hit the street. He pulled with all his strength, dragging the Yersinia to his feet. It didn't fight back, too panic-fuelled in that very moment to coordinate its many appendages. "Die!"

The remnants of his knife slashed through the exposed throat and chest, bright red cytoplasm splashing from it like water from a fountain as the germ collapsed, dead in an instance.

"Ah!"

The voice was familiar, knocking 1146 out of his rush and he wiped off the bacterium's cytoplasm from his face. In front of him was the dead body of the Yersinia, but next to it cowered an erythrocyte, her arms lifted to shield herself. Then he saw the curl. "Sekkekkyū?!"

Blinking surprised she lowered her arms and looked up. "Hakkekkyū-san? What…?"

He didn't let her finish. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just got some of its blood on me." She replied much to his relief, looking down on her now completely red uniform.

Before 1146 had a chance to reply, he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see 4989 arrive, knife, or more accurately the remaining hilt, still in his hand. "You got it already?" He stopped next to his friend and only then noticed the red blood cell. "Oh, hi AE 3803."

"Hi 4989." She replied warmly, undisturbed by his bloody appearance, waving at him with a smile.

The fluffy haired neutrophil regarded them for a moment, before he too grinned and shouldered the dead Yersinia. "Why don't you two go ahead clean up?" 4989 suggested. "I can take care of this last one; just gonna take a while." To 1146's confusion his friend then winked at him meaningfully, though he frankly had no idea why, only to leave again without another word. Odd.

"Is there a wash station nearby?" 3803 asked, regarding their appearance, clearly uncomfortable in her clothes.

1146 nodded and rose, trying to keep a distance due to his own soaked uniform. "Come, I'll show you."

She picked up her box and they began to walk side by side, the neutrophil noticing that he left bloody footprints for a while. Now that the fighting was over he started to feel his wounds, smarting noticeably, but as none were deep it was still quite bearable. Perhaps the pain had something to do with the strange coating that had corroded his knife. When he got a new uniform, he would need to pick up a replacement for it as well.

"Are you alright?" 3803 asked worriedly, after about a minute of silent walking. "Something seems to bother you."

For a moment 1146 considered denying it, not wishing to upset her, but there was a good chance she would learn the truth anyway. Especially with 4989 being her friend as well. Besides, she confided in him, it was only fair and right if he did the same. He sighed and with the back of his glove, which still sported a spot of unblemished white, wiped some bright red cytoplasm from his chin. "During today's fight we've lost the M Cell of a Peyer's patch as well as one of the macrophages. To think that there are germs that would target them is…troublesome." And so shortly after what happened to 3803. What other horrors lurked beyond their world, ready to strike? The training they'd received in the bone marrow only went so far.

She hugged her box more tightly. "But you guys won, right?"

1146 gave her a reassuring smile, at least the best he could muster. "Yes, even though we were in a tight spot for a while." After taking another corner, reaching a busier road than the one they had followed so far, he spotted their destination only a few more steps away. "Here we are."

The neutrophil wash station here was essentially a bathhouse, bigger than most others around the body. Given that the gastro-intestinal tract was one of the main battle-grounds of the body, it necessitated facilities such as this one everywhere in the area for the hundreds of white blood cells needing to frequent them daily as a result.

With the Yersinia invasion being the only current event 1146 was aware of however, nobody else was around right now. They took one of the open archways inside, a broad staircase leading to a great hall, several showerheads arranged in a circle at its centre, as well as a vast pool, at least one that was big enough to swim in. To the left side along the wall were also several hoses, while the one at the other side was lined with shelves filled with items such as towels and shampoo bottles.

"Hang on; I'm just leaving my box here." 3803 told him, placing her cargo at the entrance next to a pillar, before following him downstairs.

He indicated her to take a seat on of the stools and she immediately followed his instructions, while taking off her beret so she could rinse it and her hair more properly. "Sorry it's so cold." 1146 apologized as he turned on the water and handed her a showerhead.

She shivered as soon as the water touched her. "It's alright, though I wonder how you guys can stand it."

"You get used to it." He merely noted, taking a seat next to her before he began to wash out the cytoplasm soaking his own uniform.

"Really?" Sekkekkyū asked doubtfully, her hair already clinging to her face, flushed due to the cold.

1146 shrugged, masking a shiver. "Well, begrudgingly so."

"They could really make it just a few degrees warmer, or the pipes are gonna freeze." She tried to joke, making him chuckle and they continued to clean up.

While he had received a lot more cytoplasm, he finished first, given that this was routine to him and so got up to fetch a few white towels for her. Despite finding it uncomfortable, he was used to being cold; besides a good tea always warmed nicely from the inside as well.

3803 was hugging herself when he returned, still noticeably shivering as she stood. "Here." He wrapped the first towel around her shoulders, hoping to warm her up a little, handing her another, which she took with slightly trembling hands. "Would you like anything else? Tea perhaps?"

"I'm fine thanks." Her amber eyes wandered to the cuts adoring his clothing. "Did you get injured? I wanted to ask earlier…"

He lifted a hand, hoping to ease her concerns. "Scratches; nothing to be concerned about." The neutrophil assured her; he would take proper care of them later.

Still, she furrowed her brows regardlessly. "You sure? There was a lot of blood."

"Almost exclusively from the Yersinia." As soon as their shells were removed, they died like any other bacteria.

3803 clutched the towel in her hands with an adorably sheepish expression. "I was worried, not to mention that I managed to get into the way again."

Quickly 1146 shook his head. "Not at all. Well, except for the blood splash. I'm just glad nothing happened to you." His lips curved into a warm smile, meeting her gaze as he spoke. "But you don't need to worry about me. I know what I'm doing."

"But…"

"There is no need." He insisted softly, touched by her sentiment; still, he could watch her lower lip tremble.

Suddenly, only a second later, 3803 threw the towel over his head. "Idiot!" She cried, holding both ends still in hands, pulling at them and actually forcing him to lower his upper body until they were on eye-level with each other. Her amber eyes were shimmering with tears. "How can you expect me not to worry for you? Every day you are out there fighting germs or worse, putting your life on the line."

"Sekkekkyū." He whispered, taken aback at first, but then feeling the sudden urge to hug her, wishing to soothe her fears.

Now the first tear was rolling down her cheek. "I don't want you getting hurt; I don't want you to die, especially not because of an idiot like me."

"That's my job." He told her, his voice low.

"Please don't leave me alone." Her voice was shaky and the erythrocyte let go of the towel again. Then she echoed the words she'd said in the bone marrow only a few days ago, now nearly whispering. "Where would I be without you?"

He wanted to tell her that he would never leave her behind; he would have loved nothing better than to reassure her and relieve her of her worries. But how could he make such a promise, when he was fighting for this world's very survival every single day? He struggled and found himself unable to say anything.

It was then that her hands took hold of his collar, leaving 1146 to wonder what she was trying to do, but he didn't stop her.

For a moment their eyes met again, hers still shimmering with the remnants of shed tears, before she closed them. And then with a sudden move she was on her tiptoes, but all he felt was a pair of soft lips pressing against his right cheek. U-1146 body stiffened, his eyes widened. And yet suddenly a warm feeling was spreading through him.

It wasn't a long kiss, more a peck, but he remained paralyzed, even as she pulled back. When he saw her face again she was nibbling on her lower lip, looking both shy and even a little embarrassed with that dark blush on her cheeks. 1146 opened his mouth, but couldn't find the words, for once having no idea how to react, his mind a blank.

Instead it was she, who broke the silence. "I…I'm sorry." Those were not the words he had expected to hear. Or wanted to. 3803 pulled her beret down in an attempt to hide her face. "I shouldn't have."

Hesitantly 1146 lifted a hand, as if to reach out. "Sekkekkyū…" The word came so quietly even he could barely hear it, his cheeks feeling strangely warm.

"I…I have to get back to work." She rushed off, up the stairs, the towel on her shoulders simply flying off, and grabbed the box she'd left by the entry. Within seconds she'd run into the crowd outside and out of his view. 1146 felt his chest tightening in an uncomfortable manner.

And his hand went to his cheek.

She'd kissed him.

He just stood there, the other towel still on his head, and stared after her. Admittedly he hadn't seen this coming, but he couldn't deny that he'd liked it. Yes,…he'd liked it. It was a puzzling realisation to him, but then again hadn't he embraced her when she'd been recovering from the parasite? Surely this wasn't so different, right?

…right?

Then why did he feel so strange? A part of him wanted to run after her, but then what?

His fingers brushed across the spot she'd pecked. He sometimes saw gestured like this, however they were usually shared between erythrocytes. Couples. Did this mean…. 1146 shook his head, lowering his hand. No, certainly not. He was still a neutrophil; he was lucky enough that she didn't fear him and in the bone marrow she'd said herself that he was a friend. A friend.

But then there were her tear filled eyes today. Like himself she worried a lot; she didn't want him to get hurt, much less die. _Please don't leave me alone. Where would I be without you?_ Could she actually?

1146 sighed and straightened his cap, before he picked up the towel from the staircase. No, he was reading too much into this. It had just been a brief peck and it had made her uncomfortable, given how she'd immediately run away. He wished she hadn't. Not from him, not her. He wished he hadn't made her cry, even if it was because she worried for him. Maybe he really should have hugged her; she'd responded well to it when he'd done it in the bone marrow, though that had been a spur of the moment reaction upon seeing her awake, back among the living. Still, it really had been nice, even if he'd felt a little awkward doing it.

1146 stopped dead in his tracks.

What about himself?

Frankly he wasn't sure what it was he felt, but of one thing he was suddenly certain: it was very different from what he felt towards anyone else. And without a doubt no one could raise his spirits merely by keeping him company like she did. Confused and a little afflicted 1146 rubbed his temples, tossing the used towels into the provided laundry basket and stepped back into the blood vessels; he needed a tea and some peace and quiet to think about this.

One last time he looked around, crestfallen when she truly was nowhere in sight.

* * *

 **Author's Note on Yersinia pseudotuberculosis:**

While T-Cells are usually not associated with fighting bacteria, as they kill infected cell, studies in mice have shown that they play an important part in defeating Yersinia. While extracellular bacteria are responsible for the symptoms, they reproduce intracellular, like viruses and at this stage are likely susceptible to T-cells.

The same is true for other intracellular bacteria as well.


	5. Bacillus subtilis 1

Author's Note:

Thank you all for your reviews.

This chapter got a bit long, even longer than the previous one, once I've finished around 8000 words, so I've decided to split it after all. This way you guys don't have to wait so long and I won't have to edit so much all at once.

* * *

 **Bacillus subtilis**

 **Part 1**

U-1146 wandered through the blood vessels alone and though it was peaceful, he felt on edge. It had been days since the Yersinia-invasion, days since AE 3803 had given him that peck only to flee the wash station.

They hadn't spoken since that incident and now whenever he saw her, she smiled shyly only to quickly excuse herself and run off yet again or his receptor would go off at the worst possible moment, with her long gone when the fighting was over. Sometimes she even seemed to purposefully avoid looking his direction, hurrying along her way before he could even say something. It was starting to wear him out.

He had thought much about their relationship since that peck and now desperately wished to speak to her, something she denied him time and time again.

1146 didn't want to 'ambush' her, but it seemed like she wasn't giving him much of a choice. She needed to know, even if he wasn't sure how to tell her. If only he had followed her that day. If only he'd stopped her from leaving altogether.

He continued to walk, always looking around, but not just for bacteria or viruses. His eyes examined every erythrocyte and though he spotted a few redheads, none quite matched her shade or haircut.

Honestly he was missing her, how she would sometimes run up to him with a fresh tea, before excitedly telling him all about her day, wishing to know about his in turn. Or after battles, when she would come to offer her little tissues, unperturbed by his appearance like no other none-immune cell he'd ever met. But most of all perhaps, he missed her smile, her cheeriness, and her ability to appreciate pretty much everything in life, no matter how small.

In a disturbing way, this all was too much like the days after the Plasmodium-invasion only that this time it was by her choice. He wasn't sure if that in some respects made it worse. How had this all gone so wrong so fast?

1146 was suddenly torn from his thoughts when his eyes noticed something up ahead.

There! That hair curl!

His mitochondria throbbed, when he spotted 3803, a box of oxygen in her arms. Don't turn your head, please not just yet, don't turn your head.

1146 tried to make his way towards her, but there were too many erythrocytes in his way in this busy artery. He tried anyway and some cells actually made a bit of room for him. Still, somehow he didn't appear to be getting closer to her. Had she seen him after all and was hurrying off yet again? His chest tightened at the thought.

Eventually he lost sight of AE 3803. She disappeared in the crowd, maybe she'd even taken one of the diverging streets. Crestfallen he lowered his gaze, readjusting his cap, as if to hide his face.

Had he misinterpreted her gestures and words after all? Had that peck really meant nothing?

His mitochondria sank, his body feeling bereft of warmth. Now he felt even more desperate to talk with her, if only to have certainty one way or the other. Honestly he didn't know how long he would be able to stand this.

* * *

AE 3803 was sitting in the shadow of a tree, hidden from her fellow erythrocytes passing by in the blood vessel. Face concealed behind her arms, both leaning again her pulled up knees, she was quietly sobbing, almost curled into a ball.

These last few days had perhaps been the hardest of her life. She felt horrible.

She'd finally realized that she had feelings for Hakkekkyū, feelings she was certain he did not return and thus had heavy-heartedly planned to keep to herself. She hadn't wanted to complicate matters.

And then she just had to give him a peck on his cheek. So much for keeping her feelings a secret and act unobtrusively. That certainly had not been the unnoticeable gesture she'd had in mind.

Now she'd done something way too bold. She'd messed up everything.

How could she ever face him again?

With her mind and heart a mess, 3803 had opted to take flight every time she saw or heard 1146, desperate to avoid a confrontation. It was perhaps not the smartest move, but frankly she had no idea what she should do instead, being too afraid to even talk with him. As for now she was only _pretty_ certain that he didn't return any romantic feelings, but actually having to hear it from him, to know it beyond doubt would be devastating.

But running from him became more and more difficult. She yearned to see him after all, to spend time with him. And yet just a few minutes ago she had spotted him out of the corner of her eye and hurried off as inconspicuously as possible, afraid of the truth.

Now it felt like her haemoglobin was twisting painfully inside her chest.

"AE, what's wrong?"

3803 jumped at the female voice, looking up with her blurry vision to see a familiar silhouette beside her. "Senpai. I…I screwed up." The younger erythrocyte confessed with a shaky voice, tears running across her cheeks. Right now she felt like breaking apart.

Quickly AA 5100 sat down next to her, putting her basket aside. "On a delivery?"

"No."

"What happened?" Her senpai placed a hand on one of her knees, when AE hesitated. "Come on, I can't be there for you if you won't tell." As often as AA 5100 scolded her, both of them knew that she really cared about her kohai.

3803 rubbed her reddened eyes. "You're not gonna tell anyone else?" She asked quietly.

AA smiled kindly, her gaze warm and compassionate. "Of course not."

The redhead took a deep breath, which sadly failed to calm her nerves as she'd hoped. Frankly she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell anyone, but at the same time she couldn't bottle this up any longer; it just hurt too much. "It…it's about Hakkekkyū-san." She confessed, hugging herself, fingers digging into her own arms.

"You mean the white blood cell you're so often with." Alarmed her eyes widened, before they flitted across her kohai's body. "Did he hurt you?"

Shocked 3803 gasped, suddenly sitting up straight. "What?! No!" It hurt to know that so many thought so negatively of the white blood cells, especially 1146. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right. "He would never do that. It was me. I'm the one, who screwed up."

AA frowned a little puzzled. "And how did you do that?"

"I may have." She hesitated looking away, nibbling on her bottom lip a little, before she managed to continue, merely whispering. "I may have given him a peck. On the cheek." And tapped the spot on her own.

"Oh." There was an awkward pause, before AA 5100 inquired, her voice soft. "How did he respond?"

"I..." 3803 pulled at her beret, hiding her face once again. "I don't really know. He stared at me and then I ran." It was somewhat embarrassing to admit.

"You just ran?" Her senpai asked surprised.

"I sort of apologized first." It sounded weak even to herself.

AA sighed and wrapped a comforting arm around her kohai's shoulders. "AE, tell me." She waited until the redhead looked up again, eyes meeting. "Do you like him?"

It was a serious question and 3803 knew that her senpai expected an earnest answer. Something she was hardly able to give herself. "He's a really good friend." She replied somewhat evasively.

"That's not what I meant." AA 5100 shook her head. "Look I always found it… _strange_ that you spend so much time with a white blood cell, but I could always see you two getting along, even care for each other."

"But we were always just friends, nothing more. I crossed a line, I mean I can't take something like that back or act as if nothing happened." Tear flowed anew. "I don't know what to do."

Her senpai let her cry for a little while, her arm still around 3803, waiting until she'd calmed down a bit. "Here is the thing. You never gave up on improving yourself, no matter what happened." AA began, rubbing one of her kohai's arms, hoping to soothe her. "So why throw in the towel now, when it comes to him?"

3803 didn't know what to say and ended up biting her lower lip again. Truth was she didn't want to give up on him, but right now all options seemed frightening and painful.

She felt her senpai gently squeezing her arm. "I don't know him very well, but given how close you two have grown, shoving him away from you right now might be worse than a little peck." Wide-eyed 3803 looked at her, prompting AA to continue, this time insistently. "Talk with him; get this over with now before it keeps tormenting you. You both probably."

She was hurting him too, wasn't she? Oh, she was such an idiot. "What would I even say?" 3803 wondered aloud.

"The truth, even if it's hard." AA 5100 told her confidently. "Whatever his feelings for you, I think he'd appreciate your honesty." She smiled. "And if he really is your friend, this it will not end your friendship."

"You're sure?" 3803 wanted to believe that, she needed to. The last thing she wanted was to lose 1146, one way or another.

The other erythrocyte nodded. "Yes; it's probably going to be awkward for a while, but you're used to that."

"Senpai!" 3803 cried out.

AA 5100 hugged her. "You'll be fine." She assured her and pinched one of her cheeks. "Now do your delivery, clear your head and when you're ready, talk to your friend. Alright?"

"Right." It would be difficult; it was a terrifying prospect, but 3803 knew it had to be done. She couldn't keep running for much longer. She didn't want to frankly. But she also needed a push; perhaps this was it. "Thank you." She said weakly, despite honestly meaning it.

Her senpai smiled compassionately and stood up, ready to get back to work herself. "Anytime, AE."

* * *

At the spleen, U-2626, 2048 and 4989 were getting some new uniforms, their current ones torn and shred to various degrees after the latest fight. 4989's cap had almost been cut in half too, his hair sticking out of the slit like a tuft of white grass.

Once they were handed their new clothes, the three disappeared into the locker room to change, 2048's boot falling apart as they walked, after a germ had yanked at it with its razor-sharp fangs. He wasn't the only one, whose clothes were falling to pieces. When 2626 tried to take off his jacket, he suddenly found himself only holding a sleeve, which had simply detached itself from the rest.

"Going with a vest?" 4989 quipped as he threw his own shirt away.

"Gotta be prepared for the next summer." 2626 joked in turn, showing off his new attire. "Don't want to get a heatstroke like 1146."

2048, who had been checking his equipment and receptor for any damages suddenly looked up. "Speaking of him, have either of you guys noticed that 1146 has been acting kinda weird lately?"

Puzzled the other two looked at each other, both obviously trying to figure out what exactly he meant. "Now that you mention it, he seems somewhat more preoccupied than usual." 2626 eventually admitted, but didn't seem otherwise concerned by it.

2048 nodded, having observed the same. "I think it started just after the Yersinia-invasion. Do you know anything, 4989? You were the last to see him that day."

The fluffy haired neutrophil thought back with furrowed brows. "Last I saw him that day was just after the battle together with 3803; apparently she got some cytoplasm on her when he finished off the last germ. So I sent them ahead to the wash station, give them a bit of time." He told them with a grin, winking meaningfully.

"And?"

"By the time I arrived she was gone and 1146 was wandering off; he seemed completely absorbed in his thoughts. I don't think he noticed me." He admitted, slowing down as he spoke, as if realizing something.

2048 frowned; that didn't sound good. "Did he look troubled?"

"I don't know; it's hard to say" 4989 eyes suddenly widened in panic and he let go his new shirt. "What if they broke up?"

"They can't break up; they aren't even a couple yet." 2626 reminded him, having finally managed to remove every single piece of his jacket.

The fluffy haired neutrophil twisted his mouth. "Oh come on, we all know those two would find a way!"

He had a point. Still, 2048, despite feeling a little worried himself, quickly put a hand on 4989's shoulder. "Calm down, we're just speculating, maybe it's nothing." But something must have happened, as now that he thought about it, 2048 couldn't remember having seen the two together in some time. "In any case there isn't much we can do right now."

"But guys, I finally know where we should send them off to." 4989 complained.

"Really?"

"Yes! I wanted to tell you, but then the attack happened. Anyway, we should really get them to the eye! The retina!" He told them excitedly; obviously loving the idea. "Think about it; the colourful iris, outside light falling in like shining through a kaleidoscope and refracting into countless beams."

The other two considered the proposal for a moment. "This could actually work. But how do we get them there?" 2626 asked. A valid question.

Thankfully the answer was an obvious one; execution would be the real trouble. "Well, preferably we have AE 3803 make a delivery somewhere near the eye or the eye itself." 2048 simply stated.

"And we get U-1146 to go on patrol there at the same time." 4989 pointed out. "I checked; he's up for the brain tomorrow."

Okay; that was soon, but doable. With a bit of luck. To be honest the three of them were kinda responsible for 1146 having been assigned a few quieter patrols in the near future, but 2048 hadn't been aware of the exact schedule.

Meanwhile 2626 nodded. "Hopefully with us three together we can time a meeting then. All we have to do afterwards is to make sure they don't get distracted."

"So we stick around and deal with any germ before U-1146 realises one is around." 4989 simply stated giddily, evidently eager to get this started.

"Exactly." 2048 confirmed, putting on his new boots.

"I'm in." 2626 replied. "We just have to make sure she gets the right assignment."

"Possible, just have to talk to some people." 2048 assured them confidently.

"Then let's do this!" 4989 declared nearly shouting, one fist in the air, eyes brimming with determination. "We have a relationship to save."

* * *

On the next day 4989 found himself waiting at the lungs, just where the pulmonary vein started. Excited he scanned every single erythrocyte passing by, seeking one in particular. It was difficult for him to even stand still; today could be _the_ day, so no mess-ups.

Admittedly he was a little nervous as well, this had to work. Hopefully they hadn't already broken up.

Hastily he banished the horrible thought, focusing back on his first task. This was essential; he couldn't allow 3803 to get lost today of all days!

After waiting for what felt like an unnerving eternity, after all, what if he'd missed her, 4989 finally saw red hair and a distinctive curl. He began to walk slowly, hoping to make this seem like a chance encounter. It happened often enough.

"Hi, AE 3803." He greeted the red blood cell brightly as he showed up by her side.

Evidently he'd taken her by surprise, as she jumped a little, but quickly relaxed, giving him a smile in return. Weird; it seemed somewhat stiff. "U-4989, how are you?"

He shrugged. "Can't complain, just about to start my patrol. Where are you headed?" Of course he knew; 2048 had made the arrangements.

"I got to deliver this oxygen to someone at the eye." She predictably replied, lifting her box a little for emphasis.

His eyes widened. "Oh, that's a nice place to visit. Been there before?" Please say no…

"No." Oh, good; that would have been problematic. "I've been in the head, but nowhere near the eyes. Nasal cavities are the closest I got…I think." She admitted.

"Well in that case you're in for a treat." He told her happily, forcing himself not to grin. "Try to avoid the facial artery though; it can get real bumpy there. Follow the common carotid and then when it splits, take the internal carotid until you reach the ophthalmic artery. That one should lead you to the back of the eye."

For a moment she started at him, a little taken aback. "Wow, thanks." She replied with an appreciative smile nonetheless.

Time for his second task. "Well, I better get going myself. Save travel." He told her, stopping to take another path than the erythrocytes.

3803 meanwhile continued on, carefully waving with her fingers as to not let go of her valuable cargo. "You too, bye."

He waved back until she disappeared in the crowd moving towards the heart, before dashing into an alley himself. He needed to overtake Red Blood Cell without her noticing after all. "U-2048? Here is 4989. Could use some help at the lungs." All this time his friend had made sure that U-1146 didn't start his patrol too earlier, but with the transceiver having a pretty loud speaker, passing on information necessitated code. The two were probably standing next to each other right now.

The reply was just as inconspicuous. "Roger that; on my way." Go phase two.

* * *

The common carotid was packed as usual. The brain required a lot of energy and oxygen to function properly, thus there was never a quiet moment in the blood vessels providing for it. Even during sleep there was high activity in the brain, in some areas even more than during waking hours. Despite this however it wasn't the busiest place for white blood cells, as most germs failed to even get past the outer barriers, such as the skin and mucosa, or were killed by those guarding the common entry points.

Therefore 1146 was prepared for a quiet patrol, something he was having mixed feelings about. Frankly he wouldn't mind some distraction, but recently his friends had been very insistent that he took it easy for a while. Even before he'd started his round, 2048 had all but intercepted him for a chat and it had been clear that his friend was still concerned.

Hopefully that phase would soon pass. He didn't need to be coddled.

Or had it something to do with the way he'd recently acted. Admittedly he'd been a little preoccupied with his pondering on his relationship with 3803 and even if his friends didn't know what was going on, they might have noticed something. 1146 sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. Perhaps this whole thing had affected him more than he'd thought.

He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, when he spotted a red-haired erythrocyte in the crowd ahead. Could it be? Then he saw the so familiar upstanding curl. It was her.

Evidently AE 3803 was heading in the same direction as him, though whether this was intentional or she'd gotten lost again he wasn't quite sure of. Still, he had to admit that she was getting quite good at navigating the countless blood vessels, only slipping up once in a while these days.

Immediately 1146 quickened his pace. He had to talk with her; he couldn't stand her avoiding him any longer. This was his chance and he wouldn't waste it yet again. Just to be safe, he made sure to stay directly behind her.

Thankfully AE wasn't in any hurry as it seemed and she evidently hadn't spotted him. And after everything that had prevented it these past few days, he finally he caught up with her.

…

"Sekkekkyū." AE3803 couldn't help but freeze when she heard a familiar voice just behind her, despite having missed it so much. She stopped and slowly turned her head, seeing U-1146 step up to her from the crowd.

"Oh, H… Hakkekkyū-san." Nervously she tried to put on her usual smile, but just like her voice it somewhat faltered. To her distress she noticed that she was trapped between one of the apartment buildings lining the vessel and the neutrophil; this time running off unfortunately wasn't an option. Plus her senpai's words were suddenly ringing in her ears. Not that she felt ready for this.

His expression remained calm and unreadable, though it troubled her that there wasn't even the tiniest hint of the subtle smile he tended to greet her with. Then again she'd messed up things between them quite badly; what else was she expecting. Would he finally call her out on what happened at the wash station? Would this really spell the end for their friendship? "Delivery to the brain?" He merely asked however, sounding rather sober.

"Eye." She quietly answered, avoiding direct eye-contact, as she clutched the handle of her cart.

There was a brief, rather uncomfortable pause. "May I join you for a while then?"

"I…um…" AE started rubbing her hands nervously. _Talk with him._

"Please." The sudden shift of his tone, a near whisper now, took her by surprise, making her finally look at him. "It feels like, you…have been avoiding me." With his head was lowered, the usually visible eye was hidden by the peak of his cap.

AE 3803 bit her lower lip, her chest feeling constricted; she'd never seen him so…hurt, even vulnerable. It was all her fault. "Hakkekkyū-san." She breathed, the feeling of guilt squeezing her throat.

"I just want to talk. I don't wish for things to remain…awkward between us." He explained, a flicker of hope briefly showing in his eye, as he looked up again, even though his voice remained almost sorrowful. "Unless of course you do not wish to see me."

Her eyes widened in shock. "What? No, it's not like that!" What had she done? 3803 covered her mouth with her hands, vision blurring as she tried to keep herself from crying. "I was just so embarrassed, I mean I still am. I…I just didn't know what to do."

1146 stared at her for what seemed to be a painfully long time, before he finally spoke. "Sekkekkyū; there is nothing you have to feel embarrassed by."

"Huh?" This she had not expected and her mind was suddenly blank.

He sighed, but hoped sprouted within her, when she saw his subtle smile, even if it was somewhat tentative this time. "It probably would be for the best if we could sort this all out. Which eye are you heading to?"

"The right one." 3803 replied lowly.

He merely nodded, but his smile had not vanished. "Let's go."

* * *

U-2626 ignored the perplexed erythrocytes and common cells around him, some of which briefly stopped to watch him. Frankly today he really didn't mind; he had more important things to take care of. He'd gone ahead to the eye to make sure things were fine when the two lovebirds arrived and he'd proceeded to check every nook and cranny for germs or antigens of any kind. And he was diligent.

He checked under benches, every little alley and capillary. Even drains and bins weren't spared an inspection.

2626 had his head stuck in a tree, when suddenly the area around him shook, forcing him to hold on tight to the branches. It lasted only seconds and as soon as it was over, he swiftly slid down the trunk, immediately seeing cells all around, who slowly got back on their feet. Had something hit the eye?

Before he'd made it back to the ground, it got significantly darker and the area tremble anew, this time longer. Rubbing perhaps? He had to find out what had happened.

As soon as the trembling stopped and the outside light returned, 2626 rushed towards the lacrimal caruncle, located at the inner corner of the eye. If anything had gotten in, tears would have swept a foreign object towards it.

2626 left behind the retina, but before he could make the turn towards the inner corner, erythrocytes came running from the eye's centre though a venule. "Wow, what happened?" He shouted into the crowd.

"Something came in through the cornea!" A common cell yelled back as he passed by.

"Where is it now?"

"Don't know, but we saw it in the iris!" Before 2626 could ask anything else, the cell had disappeared again and the others surrounding him were all too busy fleeing.

Still, whatever it was, it sounded like a pathogen had made it in. Of course this just had to happen today of all days. Not hesitating a moment longer the neutrophil got moving again, dashing into the nearby long ciliary artery towards the iris. He had to go zigzag through the erythrocytes, who weren't yet aware of the situation ahead, but thankfully he never had to slow down. About half-way his receptor finally reacted.

Then he heard screams. 2626 drew one of his knifes and advanced further, baring his teeth. He could feel his bloodlust emerging, rushing through him like a wildfire. Where was it?

The buildings around him changed colour; each now displayed various earthy tones, their facades perfectly polished. Once again cells were running past him, some fearfully looking back over their shoulders, afraid of being followed.

Then he saw it at one of the glucose vending machines. And apparently it noticed him too, as a mere second later it glared at him with sulphur eyes. "Antigen sighted!" 2626 roared, picking up speed.

At first glance it looked like the Bacillus cereus 1146 had killed during the heatstroke, but the shell didn't have the same sharp edges and was light brown instead of white, the face a greyish green. Still, was it really only that one?

In that moment the vending machine came flying straight towards him. "Oh, come on!"


	6. Bacillus subtilis 2

**Author's Note:**

Well, the story is nearing its end, after this there is only one more chapter to go. I have a few more in planning, details about them at the end of the story next time.

* * *

 **Bacillus Subtilis**

 **Part 2**

They'd met! U-4989 couldn't help but grin triumphantly, when he saw his two friends met on their way up the common carotid. It was a relief to see that at least this part had worked out just as planned. Now all they had to do was to keep all distractions at bay.

The idea was simple; 2626 made sure the destination remained clear of any germs, while 2048 and he himself would circle the couple, creating a bacteria free parameter around them. But while simple in principle, the execution was a little more taxing. It wasn't helping that 1146 couldn't notice them; after all, as far as he was concerned they were patrolling in parts of the body far away.

The two neutrophils had to move swiftly in order to fulfil their task. They ran around, eyes on everything, but with the exception of a stray Streptococcus, 4989 encountered nothing. Hopefully 1146's receptor hadn't reacted.

By the time they were in the internal carotid, 4989's transceiver started buzzing. "U-4989 here."

"It's U-2626! I need you two at eye right now." His friend's voice replied; he sounded a little distressed.

"What happened?" 2048's voice chimed in, having received the same call.

"Got a germ, but the damn thing is on the run!" Dammit; not now.

"Know what it is?"

"Not sure. Some Bacillus I think." Came the reply.

The last Bacillus had been a slippery bastard. "You really need us both?" 4989 asked carefully. Despite liking nothing better than to ram his knife into any germ's throat, there would be no one left to cover the two lovebirds.

"Afraid so." 2626 confirmed. "Gotta risk it."

4989 sighed disappointed and looked troubled over his shoulder, back to the inner carotid. Guess they had no choice; hopefully those two would be fine. "On our way. Where are you now?"

"Leaving the iris in pursuit! It seems to be heading deeper into the right eye towards the retina. I'll keep you updated."

"Of course today is the day something happens to the eyes." 4989 couldn't help but begrudgingly state.

2048 reply came with a tone that implied that he disliked this turn of events just as much, but as usual he wasn't too vocal about it. "We can curse Lady Luck after we've killed the germ. Come on!"

"Roger. See you in a few." Time to hurry.

* * *

For some time U-1146 and AE 3803 continued on their way in silence. It was awkward, neither really knowing how and where to begin. They walked at the side of the blood vessel, trying to stay apart from the crowd as best as possible. 3803 was staring at her cart, her body betraying just how tense she was and so it was 1146 eventually, who broke the silence.

"I know you've said you felt embarrassed, but there is really no need for what happened at the wash station." He once again assured her and she looked up with a flicker of hope in her amber eyes. "But may I ask why you…?" He simply tapped his check where she'd pecked him.

Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of red. "I don't know; it felt right at the moment." She confessed timidly, her voice rather low. "You're out there every day, fighting, risking your life for this body, for all of us living here, and I'm scared that." She gulped and quickly averted her gaze again, her voice becoming shaky. "That one day I won't see you and perhaps just by chance I'm going to learn of your passing. Every time I see you covered in blood, I'm wondering frightened for a moment if it's yours."

1146 couldn't help but feel warmth return to his cytoplasm at her words. They were of course sombre thoughts, but to know just how much she cared. "It's my job to fight; it's quite literally what I was made to do." He told her, even though he would have liked to ease her mind. "I know it's not what you wish to hear, but all of us leucocytes are both ready and willing to give our lives to defend this world. And we grow up knowing that we one day will, one way or another."

3803 looked at him with a troubled expression. "That's not exactly comforting and to think you constantly have to put yourself in harm's way for a klutz like me to boot."

But he would every day, again and again if necessary. "And I told you that I don't care. Not just because it's my job, but because I want to and frankly nothing you can say will stop me." She opened her mouth to reply, but he was quick to continue. "But nonetheless, none of that means that I want to die, or that I seek some glorious death in battle. I too want to survive; I will always fight with everything I have to my last breath. It just means that I'm ready do whatever is necessary to protect, including giving my life if there is no other way. Kinda like you were doing your job to the bitter end in that blizzard, even when there was no hope of recovery."

For a moment she seemed to simply take this all in, considering his words. "Just be careful, alright?" She finally said with flushing cheeks, pulling her beret down a little. "I want to keep bumping into you for a long time to come." Her head abruptly turned to him, eyes widened panicked, perhaps out of embarrassed, a hand flying to her mouth. "I mean…"

1146 chuckled, a hand lifted. "It's alright; I know what you mean. I feel the same." His word elicited a timid smile from her.

Sadly it faded swiftly again, only to be once again replaced by concern. "Sometimes it seems that you always have to deal with so much more than any other neutrophil; bacteria, viruses, even cancer, sometimes in the span of a single day. You're almost as bad as me in getting into trouble, though I suppose at least you know where you are and what to do when it happens." The last bit was ringing with discontent towards herself, despite her improvements in navigating the circulatory system.

"It has been quite a bit lately." 1146 admitted. "Maybe that's why the others insisted I take this route."

3803 tilted her head curiously. "What do you mean?"

The neutrophil sighed. "My friends wanted me to take the patrol around the brain, they were actually quite adamant about it." He looked around, but as to be expected, there were only erythrocytes surrounding them. "It's usually a quiet route, as most germs already fail to penetrate our defences at all common entry points, such as mouth and nose."

To his surprise she smiled at this. "Glad to hear. I mean you work so hard, it's just good to know that you have it a little easier once in a while."

1146 smiled; he couldn't deny that patrols like this did have certain advantages.

…

The two of them continued on and finally reached the ophthalmic artery. Traffic wasn't as dense here, giving them a bit more space. "Hakkekkyū-san?" 3803 asked after a while.

"Hm?"

"In that blizzard, during the hypovolemic shock I…I was terrified. Doing my job was all I could think of doing, and it kind of kept me together. Do you ever get frightened?"

He thought about this for a while. "That's not easy to answer." 1146 eventually admitted. "When I fight bacteria, everything is a bit more of a rush; you don't really have the time or state of mind to really be afraid. Sometimes we don't really register many emotions at all; then it's frankly a bit of a frenzy. But when it concerns enemies we neutrophils are not equipped to deal with." With a hand he rubbed the back of his neck and he looked at her with an expression she couldn't quite classify. "Even then it's not really my own life I'm afraid for, more the idea of what could happen if I fail that frightens me, or knowing that I can't do anything. Helplessness is not exactly something we're taught to deal with."

"I actually have a hard time picturing you as helpless; it's like trying to imagine a gloomy macrophage." She confessed only to pout a little at her next thought. "I wish I could be of more use, but all I can do is run."

1146 was quick to shake his head however. "Just because your job is of a less violent nature, doesn't mean it's any less vital. Actually that is something I've only truly began to appreciate thanks to you." He told her with his subtle smile.

"Huh?"

He placed a hand on his chest. "Erythrocytes tend to be afraid of us, at best they think we are weird. You were the first red blood cell I've met who wasn't. You even asked me if we could meet again, remember." Like so often he readjusted his cap. "I initially said no not just because it was unlikely, but because I was so surprised by your request that I simply didn't know how to respond. Same when you had thanked me earlier; it just had never happened before. And then we started meeting every other day. I may have shown you around the body, but you gave me an appreciation for the hard work you guys are doing."

She had no idea what he meant by that, but it was so sweet of him to say, her cheeks warming at his words. "But I'm really bad at it."3803 mumbled bashfully.

His smile returned, this time warmer than it had been all day. "And yet you always keep going, trying to improve yourself constantly. You never give up. That's not a quality you see in everyone."

3803 gasped her cheeks surely now brightly red. Was that really how he thought about her? All this time she'd always heard other red blood cells mocking her, but that he appreciated her efforts so much. A part of her wanted to just throw her arms around his neck and hug him. Few had ever praised her and having him of all cells doing just that meant more than he could possibly imagine. All the more reason to cherish him. No matter what else today brought, her senpai had been right: she couldn't throw in the towel and losing him was certainly not an option.

* * *

4989 rushed through one of the capillaries of the retina, something brown with several flagella just ahead of him and on the run. His receptor kept ringing, but he ignored the all too familiar sound, mind set on catching up and burying his blade deep inside that germ's flesh. He almost felt lightheaded, his cytoplasm tingling, his mitochondria pounding in his chest.

Suddenly the germ climbed a small ladder at the wall and disappeared through a hatch in the ceiling. A maintenance shaft!

Quickly 4989 followed, nearly bumping his head on the closing hatch, but he slammed it wide open, jumping into the tissue, blade drawn, teeth bare. This wasn't a place where he was supposed to be, but when there was a bacterium, certainly exceptions could be made.

His gaze darted around, catching a glimpse of a flagellum to his right and without hesitation he continued his pursuit.

4989 found himself on one of the many slim, metal walkways in the tissue just outside capillaries, connecting the various cells that made up the retina. There were cable bundles everywhere around him, constantly feeding new visual information to the brain. Still, this place was a maze, with several more levels above him.

The germ escaped his sight for a moment and enraged the neutrophil sped up, the walkway rattling loudly with each step. Suddenly at a crossroad he caught a glimpse of it again, but something white dashed towards him from the right. Before he knew what was happening he crashed into another cell, both falling flat on their faces.

A little dizzy and in a bit of pain 4989 looked to the other neutrophil, rubbing his bruised nose. "2626?" He only knew one cell with such bangs.

"Hi, 4989. I see you made it." His friend replied as they got back to their feet, picking up their weapons.

"You know, you had one job." 4989 reminded him, pointing the way the bacterium had fled.

"Hey, it's not like I invited the damn thing." The other neutrophil replied a little irritably.

"Guys, could we please focus on killing it." 2048 interrupted them, showing up behind 4989. "We don't have a lot of time."

"That thing is slippery and quite strong. It got away by throwing a vending machine at me." 2626 told them. "Best we surround it and attack together."

"Good; 4989 why don't you take the one above, 2626 you stay right and I take the left." As good a plan as any and they'd lost enough time already.

"Roger."

"Seconds for the one who deals to killing blow!" 4989 cheered and leaped up to the walkway just above, pulling himself up at the railing. He moved significantly slower now, trying not to make a sound, keeping his eyes peeled.

4989 didn't need to go all that far, until on the walkway below crossing his he found the germ again, evidently desperate to get to the content of another vending machine. It was only now that he finally got a good look at it. 2626 had been right, it was a Bacillus. Bacillus subtilis.

 ** _Bacillus subtilis_**

 _A bacterium found in soil and occasionally the gastrointestinal tract, capable of forming protective endospores, in order to survive extreme environmental conditions. Therefor it can survive being cooked as well and can be used as an indicator for the efficiency of sterilisation processes. Its flagella allow it to move quickly and it prefers glucose as its primary source of energy. It is rarely pathogenic, but can cause panophthalmitis, the inflammation of the eye after an injury, possibly resulting in blindness._

It was clearly on guard, its head constantly moving, its sulphur eyes vigilant. One wrong move and it would flee before he could slice it up. His two friends would approach from both sides, cutting it off, while he covered the only other escape route, but what if that wasn't enough?

4989 looked around and found an unused cable, neatly rolled-up. Yeah, that would do. While he waited for his friends to arrive he quickly made a loop, swinging it around to get a feeling for his new tool. Now he was ready.

Right on cue the other two neutrophil appeared, 2626 from the right, 2048 from the left, blades drawn. "Die germ!" The latter shouted, eyes ablaze with murderous intent.

The germ panicked and screeching fled to the walkway above. Wrong way.

The noose closed around the germ's neck. "Gotcha!" 4989 exclaimed triumphantly, holding on tightly to the cable. It had worked!

"Let go!" The Bacillus demanded, showing his pointy teeth, hastily trying to remove the cable.

"Not a chance, you bastard!" The fluffy haired neutrophil snarled, pulling it closer.

In that moment the other two joined them. "I'll kill you!" 2626 roared, leaping over the railing. Desperately the germ attacked with his flagella, lashing out. The neutrophil managed to block each incoming attack, but was forced to keep a distance. The Bacillus however had forgotten about 2048.

He arrived only a second later and as soon as his boots touched the walkway, he struck.

"Raagh!" The germ screamed in agony as its back was opened up with a clean strike, ceasing its attacks. 2626 used the opening to advance again, ramming his knife through the throat into its head, silencing it once and for all.

4989, a little disappointed to not have dealt a blow himself, smiled nonetheless satisfied. "Finally." He noted and let go of the cable.

"Guess that means I get seconds." 2626 noted grinning. "Think we were in time?" He then wondered aloud, while cleaning the knife with his sleeve, the same concern 4989 felt lingering in his voice.

2048 however looked a lot more confident, as he wiped cytoplasm from his chin. "Why don't we go check and make sure they're alright?"

* * *

The blood vessels 1146 and 3803 found themselves in had gotten a lot smaller and relatively few erythrocytes were around here. Capillaries split from the main road right and left, though the neutrophil was looking for a particular one. It wasn't his first visit to the eye and on their way here he'd gotten an idea.

"You've never been to the eyes, have you?" He eventually asked head slightly inclined.

3803 shook her head. "No, I've never been this far." She scratched her cheek with a sheepish, little smile. "Not even by accident."

Good. "This way." He told her, indicating a vessel just ahead. "It's a capillary; you should leave your cart and oxygen here."

She looked at him puzzled and with a bit of concern. "Will that be alright?"

"It won't take long." 1146 assured her and she parked the cart next to the vessel in little designated parking bay. Normally erythrocytes were expected to take their cargo with them, but surely a minute or two wouldn't hurt; after all they didn't need that box anyway. "Would you close your eyes?" He asked her when she re-joined him.

"Why?"

Despite his mitochondria pounding inside his chest, he managed to smile calmly. "Trust me and don't worry; I'll guide you."

She nodded, clearly a little nervous as well, and closed her eyes. "Okay."

Gently he took her by the wrist and slowly walked to the capillary's entrance, always an eye on her to make sure she didn't trip. Hopefully she would like what he was about to show her.

…

AE 3803 felt her cytoplasm tingle when he took hold of her arm, nervous and curious as to what he was planning. What could be so interesting about a capillary after all? He pulled gently, leading her into the thin blood vessel, where she put her free hand against the wall to steady herself. Taking a deep breath she squeezed through, only to be surprised that after a few steps the capillary seemed to widen, not by much, but enough to stand comfortably.

After walking a little further 1146 stop and let go of her wrist again. "You can open them." He told her.

It was very bright. That was the first thing 3803 notice, blinking rapidly while her eyes adjusted, before she discovered that they were standing on something like a small viewing platform. As she looked around she also noticed that the capillary was essentially a see-through tunnel, not just an alley between buildings and when she saw why it took her breath away.

Just outside was a vast, round hall, larger than anything else she'd ever seen. The stomach was certainly bigger, but most of it was ever-hidden by semi-darkness and there was always acid blocking the view, while this place was near empty, only flooded with outside light.

She looked to where it came from, seeing something like a giant screen, at its centre a large ring in several shades of brown, countless blood vessels leading from and to it. To her it looked like a massive, intricate mandala.

The bright outside lights was collimated, travelling directed through the eye to the retina, where it was disassembled into countless little beams of any imaginable colour, as some of it was reflected and not absorbed. Those redirected beams seemed to fill the vast hall like a perpetual aurora, ever moving, ever changing, but never disappearing. Even the iris, the brown ring in the distance, seemed to be surrounded by a rainbow.

"It's so beautiful…" She breathed amazed; never had she seen anything like this before.

"It is." 1146 agreed, pausing briefly. "Sekkekkyū, would you mind elucidating something for me?"

AE 3803 managed to tear her eyes from the breath-taking display in front of them, though it wasn't easy. "Huh?"

He tapped his right cheek. "You just said it felt right at the moment." She quickly turned her head away again, trying to hide her bright blush. "Because you worry I could die any day."

"I do worry. I know you're strong and capable, but I've see you injured so many times as well." Her voice began to shake. "If anything were to happen to you…" A tear ran down her cheek, lingering at the tip of her chin, before it finally made its way to the ground. But her gaze remained lowered, as she fought more tears from coming. She didn't want to have these dreadful thoughts, not now.

The neutrophil didn't reply, but then suddenly she felt her beret being lifted. Confused she turned to 1146, her sorrowful thoughts momentarily forgotten, but instead of being face to face with him, she only felt a pair of gentle lips against her own. She simply froze, her mind a blank for the second time today.

…

Meanwhile 1146 hoped he wasn't making a mistake, but he'd wanted to do this. Frankly his intention had been to give her a peck on the cheek, in part to show his appreciation and affection, but also to once again reassure her that it had been fine when she'd done it, however when she'd unexpectedly turned her head, he'd quickly adjusted.

Frankly, this was better.

But he didn't know how she felt about it and so, not wishing to make her uncomfortable, he pulled away again after a mere second or two, stepping back to give her room. A little worried he studied her puzzled expression, one of her hands on her lips, eyes looking somewhere off into the distance, not really at him. "Please: don't run." He pleaded quietly, his body suddenly feeling tense.

Shyly she finally met his gaze, her blush darker than a moment ago. 3803 didn't reply however, perhaps afraid, too nervous, or maybe she just didn't know what to say. Moving deliberately slowly he gave 3803 her hat, which he'd been holding until now and she took it with ever so slightly trembling hands.

But even if she couldn't speak, there was something he needed to get off his chest. "You once told me that you wanted to become completely self-reliant. That one day there shouldn't be anyone having to look out for you. But the truth is I will never stop. I can't." Gently he took her right wrist, both their eyes moving to the now faint scar there left by the parasite, visible next to his fingers. "When I found you that day, when I carried you, not knowing if I was already too late, if you could still be saved, I finally realised something."

"Realised?" She whispered meekly.

With but the tips of his fingers of both hands he then framed her face, leaning closer. "So many have I seen die or simply vanish from the face of this world. We're white blood cells; we learn to bear it." 1146 took a deep breath, closing the gap, allowing their foreheads to touch, his cap slipping back a little. Much to his relief she didn't flinch away, only closed her eyes even though she still seemed jumpy. When he spoke again, his voice was little more than a whisper. "But that day I learned that there was someone whose death I wouldn't be able to bear." He saw her hands, which were still holding the beret, clutching it. "I know you fear to be nothing but a burden, a nuisance even, but that couldn't be further from the truth. You don't know how much I've come to cherish your company, you, quirks and all. I…I care for you." He finally closed his eyes as well, feeling his face heating up. "What I'm trying to say…what I mean to say is; I like you , I…"

1146 gave up; suddenly he didn't know what to say anymore and words seemed to be escaping him, but there was something he wanted to do. So he finished his sentence by pressing his lips against hers once more.

She jumped a little, clearly taken by surprise, however unlike before he didn't immediately pull away again. It took a few seconds, until he felt her hands on his chest and her lips moving in response. She was kissing him back!

His mitochondria leaped up to his throat, going into overdrive and he deepened the kiss a little. She tasted sweet, probably from the glucose, while the membrane of her lips proved to be incredibly soft. Hopefully his didn't taste like the various bacteria he consumed, but his last meal had been some time ago. To his delight however 3803 not only kept kissing him back, but he could feel her lean closer, as if determined to close whatever little gap there was still between their bodies. And he was happy to comply.

…

3803 felt aflame. He like her! He really liked her! And he was kissing her, even initiated it! A tear of joy found its way through one of her closed eyes, while she eagerly reciprocated his affection, relishing the sudden intimacy and contact. And all these past few days she'd feared to have stepped over the line with her little peck. This; this was a dream come true for her.

She couldn't help but smile, when she noticed that his lips tasted like tea. It suited him.

The kiss was still soft, careful even, he was probably just as new to this as she after all, but it was wonderful. If only this moment could last forever.

Eventually however they sadly needed to stop, mostly to catch their breaths. Yet they remained close nonetheless, one of his hands still cupping her face, hers still clinging on to his shirt. Her beret was somewhere on the floor. It was silent between them for a while, eyes meeting, and 3803 could feel her blush return.

Finally U-1146 broke the silence. "That was...um…really nice."

Smiling she placed a hand on the one framing her face, leaning into his touch. Even through the glove he felt pleasantly cool. "Yes…it was." 3803 replied shyly but deeply happy. "Hakkekkyū-san?"

"Hm?"

"If we both like each other…and we kissed…does that mean we're…?" She broke off.

"Would you like us to be?" Her face now nearly matched her hair. 1146 chuckled and once more leaned his forehead against hers. This time however she relaxed, openly welcoming the contact, even smiled a little. "You don't need to answer right away." Things had admittedly moved rather fast today.

"I'm sorry I always ran away from you lately." 3803 sheepishly apologized. "I just didn't know what to say, much less do. I wasn't even sure what I felt."

His thumb brushed across her cheek, his voice soft as he spoke. "I understand; frankly neither did I. But not talking to you was worse."

"For me too. If only I hadn't been so afraid." She lamented, still feeling guilty for having put him through that.

"Of me?"

3803 quickly shook her head; that was the last thing she'd wanted him to think. "Of learning that you didn't return my feelings." She confessed, but then hugged him tightly. "I've never been so glad to have been wrong."

* * *

Up on the slim metal walkways above the capillary three neutrophils were lying prone, still covered in bright red cytoplasm, the dead Bacillus next to them. But none of them cared about that right now. They had all made themselves comfortable, heads resting on arms or in their hands, watching the scene below unfold. 4989 was swinging his cocked legs slowly back in forth, until they saw 1146 pecking his red blood cell friend on the lips after lifting up her beret.

All three froze for but a moment.

"Yes!" 2626 exclaimed as quietly as possible, a wide grin on his face.

"I told you!" 4989 cheered, silently clapping his lifted feet together. "I told you the eye would work!" He was so glad it had, his mitochondria were jumping in his chest with pure joy.

"About time." 2048 confirmed, smiling as well. Nonetheless he suddenly, if carefully rose nudging his friends with a boot. "Come; let's give them some privacy."

4989 opened his mouth to protest, but then realised he was right. This was an important and very intimate moment. They really shouldn't spy, not now. So the fluffy haired neutrophil sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Plus it would kinda ruin the mood if they spotted us after all." He would never forgive himself if they were the ones to mess this up after all.

Lifting up the germ's corpse the three snuck away on the walkway, cautious not to make a sound. They were long gone by the time 1146 confessed his feelings and the two shared their first true kiss.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Just a little something from the song "You're Mine" by Disturbed:

I've begun to realize  
That I'm better when I am with you  
You delivered me from the pain in my life  
Easy now to recognize  
All the misery I have been through  
It was beating me to submission  
Till the day you arrived

Suddenly, I felt alive  
Strength I had lost was revived  
and building inside  
And we both know why

'Cause you're  
Mine  
I knew I could be whole if you were  
Mine  
I'll vanquish any foe because you're  
Mine


	7. Neisseria

**Neisseria meningitidis**

U-1146 and AE 3803 walked together through a blood vessel along an optic nerve, both happy, her cheeks still featuring an adorable pink. After their kiss the two had lingered a little at the retina, simply taking in the beautiful sight before them, enjoying each other's company. But they still had their duties and so had somewhat reluctantly left the capillary again some time ago. By now 3803 had finished her delivery, her oxygen box now replaced for one with carbon dioxide.

Despite her having to return it to the lungs, she had decided to take a deliberate detour, joining 1146 on his patrol for a bit longer. Something he was very delighted by. They had little time together as it was and he was grateful for every moment more.

He watched her look around, as they walked ever closer to the brain, even though there wasn't much to see, until they came closer to the optic chiasm.

 ** _Optic Chiasm_**

 _Also the known as the Chiasma opticum is the part in the brain where the optic nerves from both eyes, responsible for transmitting the sensory information for vision, cross. It is located at the bottom of the brain just below (inferior) the hypothalamus._

The ceiling and walls of the blood vessel became see-through, showing them the massive cable bundle that was the right optic nerve below them to their left, as the buildings flanking their path were replaced by balustrades. They had stepped onto a bridge, granting them a good view on a net of blood vessels all around them. Just like their own, those vessels led from and to the brain ahead, which was yet hidden behind the buildings of the bone at the other side.

"Wow; amazing." He heard 3803 exclaim. "How high up are we?"

"I'm not sure, but we should be a few floors above the next blood vessel." 1146 replied looking to the arteries and venules surrounding the optic nerve.

"Have you ever wondered what the outside looks like?" She asked after a while, gazing to the nerve itself.

"Hm?"

She turned to him, her amber eyes glowing with excitement. "I mean we know that our world, this body, is in shape like ours, but what about the world it inhabits?"

"I don't know." He confessed, though it was a rather fascinating thought, even if he'd never really entertained it before. "Some have tried to find out, usually by looking from the blood vessels in places such as sclera and iris, but anything larger than a mosquito turns into a blurry mass. Other times the outside light is simply too bright to make anything out."

3803 seemed somewhat disappointed by his response. "So no one knows?"

He shrugged. "Not necessarily. The information gathered by the eyes is processed in the brain by the neurons. It is possible that some of them know."

"I suppose there isn't a way to ask them." She noted, but there was a flicker of hope in her eyes again.

"The blood-brain barrier makes it difficult." 1146 explained. "If you ever have a delivery to the brain, you'll be giving the oxygen and nutrients to an astrocyte. They along with the pericytes and endothelial cells separate the brain from the rest of us, protecting and providing for it, making sure the neurons can function undisturbed, even when conditions in the circulatory system should change."

Despite this information however 3803 smiled. "Well, it won't hurt to ask."

1146 chuckled, adoring her positive attitude. "I suppose."

They continued to cross the bridge and the neutrophil couldn't help but notice that the pair of them attracted a bit of attention and so did she. "There have been quite a few cells staring at us."

"We might not exactly be subtle." He admitted; how often did you see a red and white blood cell walk so closely together. "Do they bother you?"

3803 shook her head. "No; I actually much prefer it to them making fun of me behind my back."

Worried he raised an eyebrow. "Do they still?" He'd heard some other erythrocytes talk behind her back, or even laughing at her, much to his dismay. It reminded him a little of how Eosinophil had been treated before she'd killed the Anisakis; neither of them had ever deserved such treatment.

"Not as much anymore, now that I'm getting better at my job."

1146 mustered a smile, even though he wished it would stop entirely. "Glad to hear it." But then another thought occurred to him. What would they say about her, when they saw her being in a relationship with a neutrophil? Being friends was unusual enough, but now. There would certainly be some vicious gossip and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it. He was used to bias against him and immune cells in general, but how would she handle it? And what if something happened to him now? He knew too well how badly he'd handled her near-death. "Sekkekkyū?"

"Hm?" Given her puzzled look she'd noticed his troubled expression.

"You've said you worry…about me. Wouldn't that be worse if we truly were together?"

She stopped and stared at him, obviously surprised by his question. "I care for you." 3803 told him without a trace of incertitude in her voice, despite her reddened cheeks. She'd even placed a hand on her chest. "Whether we're together or not, that doesn't change what I'm feeling."

"I could perish any day in battle." 1146 reminded her, his head lowering.

3803 stepped closer, right in front of him so she could see his face again. "And I could get sucked out through a wound or get slaughtered by any number of bacteria." She pointed out softly, but her smile vanished, replaced with something resembling fear. "Don't you want to be…?"

Alarmed his eyes widened, hastily he raised his hands. "No, no that's not what I'm trying to say. I just…" He sighed, readjusted his cap, his voice quietening. "I do not want you to regret this…us. I don't want to cause you any grief." Ruining her life one way or another was the last thing he wanted to do.

Her fingers reached for his chin, gently guiding his head so their eyes could meet. "That's kind of too late already, don't you think? I mean we already worry about each other, a lot. I think." With her free hand she brushed some of her red hair behind her ear, her cheeks flushing to a darker shade. "I think I'd regret it more if I, well we, didn't make the most of the time we do have."

"Sekkekkyū."

Her voice started to shake a little. "I don't care if it's a day, a week or a year. I…I just to be with you." And standing on her toes she placed a loving kiss at his jawline, making his mitochondria leap in his chest.

3803 stepped back, regaining her balance, both silently smiling shyly at each other. To hear her say something like this; he would make sure to cherish every moment they had. 1146 leaned down, softly kissing her temple, the back of his fingers brushing gently against her flushed cheek.

She grasped his wrist with one hand, with the other the handle of her cart and together they continued on, 1146 for his part feeling even more reassured that they could make this work, pushing aside his worries for now.

About halfway across the bridge however, he noticed something was…different. There seemed to be cords stretched between the balustrades and the ceiling far above, strange given that this was no suspension-bridge. They shimmered white, almost looking silken.

"Hakkekkyū-san? Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure." He slowly replied.

Around them were only a few other erythrocytes, everything seemed calm. Perhaps it was nothing after all. Then two things happened at once.

A woman screamed somewhere behind them, 1146 whirling around, his receptor going off at the same time. He drew his blade, pushing 3803 behind him and was just in time to see a red blood cell get dragged over the balustrade.

"Sekkekkyū, stay behind me!"

"What was that?"

"A bacterium." He told her, eyes roaming, though he found no trace of the invader. "As long as we don't know where it is, you have to stay close." Otherwise she might run straight into its arms; he would never forgive himself if that happened. The other erythrocytes were already running, trying to get off the bridge as quickly as possible. Hopefully they wouldn't lure the germ away, but he couldn't stop them, not when they were panicking.

Meanwhile 3803 nodded frightened, leaving her cart behind for the moment, looking around same as him. Carefully they approached the place where the other erythrocyte had been attacked. And then something moved above the abyss just to their left. He swiftly turned around and found himself eye in eye with a creature, balancing on some of the silken cords.

A devious grin revealed sharp fangs and a pair of little tusks. "Ah, a neutrophil." Its dark grey body was reminiscent of a spider, its back covered by silky fur, by the looks of it identical to the cords it stood on. Attached to the segmented body were eight limbs, only two of them ending in clawed hands, the others pointy legs. And it was holding something. "Careful now. You wouldn't want me to drop her, now would you?" From another cord, which it now held up, hung something cocoon-like, but within it the neutrophil could see the contours of a body. The erythrocyte!

"Neisseria." 1146 growled, bringing his body between the bacterium and 3803 again, shifting into a combat ready stance.

 ** _Neisseria meningitides_**

 _Also known as Meningococcus, is bacterium fond worldwide with large-scale epidemics occurring every 5-12 years, most commonly in the 'meningitis belt' in sub-Saharan Africa. About 5-15% of adults carry it in their nasopharynx without getting sick; those most at risk are children and adolescents. It causes meningitis, the inflammation of the protective membranes (meninges) covering both brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include fatigue, fever, and headache, which in 10% of cases can progress to neck stiffness, coma and death. Vaccinations against various types of N. meningitides are available._

The germ chuckled. "You know me; perhaps I should be flattered." It bowed theatrically.

This was his chance! The neutrophil leaped forth, one foot now on the balustrade. "Die!"

With none of its other cords close enough for a quick escape, the Neisseria jumped over him and down to the bridge, dodging the blade, tossing the cocoon aside. Looking over his shoulder 1146 saw that diabolic smile again, but its red eyes were not on him.

Sekkekkyū!

Using his body as a shield he quickly brought himself between them, and not a second too late. He blocked the first clawed hand, but it took hold of his knife, allowing it to strike with the other unopposed. 1146 tried to draw another weapon, angling his upper body sideways at the same time, before a searing pain ran through his shoulder. The ebony claws had slashed across it, but it was still preferable to his chest…or 3803.

Fuelled with rage and pain, he delivered a kick against the germs currently unprotected chest, pushing it away from him, forcing it to release his blade. The pointy legs scratched across the floor, creating sparks. The neutrophil quickly followed up with a handful of throwing knives, not really aiming, only hoping to inflict some kind of injury. And they simply glanced off.

But 1146 was already advancing again, slashing at the chest, aiming for the spot he had kicked. He had to do something, but it was like scratching across stone. More sparks flew, their light revealing a honeycombed pattern covering the bacterium. Dammit; not this again.

In that moment a strike, aiming at his face came straight at him. He swiftly dodged, crouching, but felt how his cap was knocked off his head. 1146 jumped back, trying to get some distance between himself and the germ. Dammit.

The Neisseria however didn't pursue, despite its advantage, merely wagged one of its clawed fingers, the neutrophil's cytoplasm dripping from it. "I don't think so. If you think that little blade of yours can cut through my capsule, I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken." 1146 said nothing, only started to circle it. "Now, sadly I cannot allow you to tell anyone about me, but if you hold still I promise to make this quick."

The neutrophil's eyes narrowed; that was not going to happen. However there was only one way to end this battle and keep 3803 safe.

With as much speed as possible 1146 ran and threw himself against the germ, ignoring the searing pain in his shoulder, or the claws digging into his arm and back. The Neisseria stumbled backwards, the balustrade behind it broke…and they both fell.

…

No! "Hakkekkyū-san!" AE 3803 screamed from the top of her lungs, running to the now destroyed part of the balustrade, a sudden wind dragging at her. "Hakkekkyū-san!" No, no, no!

Frantically she searched the area beneath, hair billowing before her eyes, but only saw the blood vessels and nerves. No sight of 1146 or the germ. This…this just couldn't be true, not him. Any semblance of strength left her body, she felt so numb inside, and 3803 slowly sank to her knees with a vacant expression.

The wind died away. It was absolutely silent around her, there was only a little breeze tugging at her hair and jacket now.

AE 3803 didn't know how long she sat there, staring down, mind frozen. At some point however her eyes wandered, until the found the torn, white cap on the ground, just beside her. The receptor was silent now, the germ had cut through the cable anyway, but she looked directly at his number. 1146.

Her hand moved in slow motion, trembling, finally grasping it by the peak. She pulled it close, almost cradling it in her hands, fingers running across the fabric. Was that all what remained? Would she never see him again? Her vision became blurry.

She clutched his cap, crushing it against her chest. He was gone, just gone…it felt like something was wrenching her chest apart. Tears streamed down her face as she began to sob. This just couldn't be true. The one she loved; gone. On the day she'd admitted her feelings, the day she'd found out he returned them. Why hadn't she told him sooner? Why had she been so afraid? If only…For what felt like a terribly lonely eternity, 3803 simply cowered alone at the edge of the abyss and cried, with no thought giving solace.

"Sekkekkyū."

She jumped when she suddenly heard a voice right behind her. Slowly she managed to turn her head, her vision not entirely clear yet.

"Ha...Hakkekkyū-san?" How? Yet there he was, breathing heavily, cytoplasm all over him, but she couldn't care less as she got back on her feet, despite her shaking legs. "I thought…I thought…" A few more tears ran across her cheeks, her voice was hoarse from crying, as unsteady as the rest of her. With one hand she tentatively touched his chest, as if to make sure he was real.

1146 stepped closer, his hands framed her face, his fingers brushing her tears away and he leaned his forehead against hers. When he spoke the neutrophil was still panting, still catching his breath. "I'm not leaving you."

AE 3803 didn't know which one of them closed the gap, she only knew that the next thing her mind registered were his lips crushing against her own. Perhaps it was because of the aftereffects of battle and her own emotional turmoil, but this kiss was deeper and more intense than either before and the pain in her chest was suddenly replaced with warmth. She shivered, feeling his tongue brush over her lips, and her shaky legs started to feel limp.

Thankfully his arms had wrapped themselves tightly around her, one hand cradling and supporting her head, fingers delving into her hair. Meanwhile her own arms were trapped between them; with one hand she was still clutching his cap, while the other all but clawed into his jacket.

She didn't care that he was dripping cytoplasm, or that her own clothes got soaked as well now. He was here. He was alive. Nothing else mattered.

When the kiss ended both of them were left breathless, but he kept holding her, their faces still mere inches apart. She could feel his breath washing over her lips. 3803 felt overwhelmed; her mind was still trying to grasp the fact that he was even standing here. "You're alive." Was all she managed to say, her voice but a whisper. "You're alive."

1146 didn't reply, only smiled softly and leaned his forehead against hers again, allowing them both time to calm down. She had to admit, just standing here like this, with him, it was incredibly comforting; she could have stayed like this forever.

After what had to have been a few minutes they, somewhat reluctantly, separated. She was however confused at his expression. "Hakkekkyū-san?"

"I'm sorry I worried you back there." He apologized, actually looking guilty.

But the erythrocyte quickly shook her head. "Don't be, it's alright." She assured him, her smile of relief probably contrasting with her reddened eyes. "I'm just glad…"

But a faraway shout interrupted her, catching their attention. In the distance 3803 saw three neutrophils, all of them bloodied and having their weapons drawn. As if on cue, both she and 1146 took each a small step back to create a bit of distance between them, while she also handed him his cap, which she'd been holding all this time. It really was quite rumpled now, though frankly he needed a new one anyway.

When the other neutrophils came closer, the red blood cell realized that she knew them; 1146's closest friends since childhood, U-4989 in front. "Hey, guys!" The fluffy haired neutrophil shouted, waving at them.

"What are you three doing here?" 1146 asked once they arrived, putting his cap back on.

"We were called in after a group of Neisseria meningitides got in. One escaped us though." U-2048 explained.

"Guess you found it then." 2626 noted regarding his friend's bloodied appearance. "Where is it?"

"Lymphatic vessel." 1146 told them, pointing at the whole in the balustrade. "I had the lymphocytes help me out. It's been dealt with."

His friends put their weapons away, all three visibly relaxing. "Well, that accounts for all of them."

4989 turned around. "What about that cocoon?" He asked; frankly 3803 had actually forgotten all about it. The other red blood cell…

1146 thankfully however hadn't. "An erythrocyte. I've already opened it; she's alive but still unconscious." 3803 was briefly confused, but concluded that he must have done it before coming to her.

"Had a few of those at the nasopharynx as well; we can take her with us so she can get treated too." U-2048 offered.

1146 merely nodded in agreement.

"Are you two alright?" 4989 then asked, examining especially 3803 with a worried expression, probably because of all the cytoplasm on her.

AE however was quick to put on a smile, her eyes closed. Hopefully they couldn't tell that she had cried earlier. "I didn't get hurt, this isn't my blood." She told them, but then she glanced over to 1146, who actually had been injured. "Hakkekkyū-san…?"

"Scratches, I'm fine." He assured them, though his gaze only met hers, as if to make sure she believed him.

One of his friends nodded and picked up his transceiver. "U-2001? U-2048 here; last Neisseria was eliminated. Heading back to the nasopharynx with another injured red blood cell."

"Roger." A distorted voice answered right away.

2626 and 4989 lifted up the unconscious erythrocyte, still cushioned by the cocoon. "Well, see you guys later." The former told them and the three got going again, heading back the way they had come.

3803 waved. "Bye, take care."

But only 2048 with his hands free was able to return the gesture, while 4989 shouted. "Stay safe! Don't get into trouble again!"

For a while she and 1146 watched them depart, until she felt him tug at her sleeve. "This way." He said, nodding towards the brain and the other side of the bridge. "We should be able to find a wash station there. Sorry about the cytoplasm."

"It's fine." She assured him, but quickly grabbed his wrist, squeezing it gently. "Are you really alright? You fell all that way…"

He mustered a smile, though he still looked a little pained. "Luckily the germ broke my fall. Though my shoulder is probably going to be a bit stiff for a while."

"Shouldn't someone take a look at that?" 3803 replied, pointing at his wounds.

"In due time, I'm just going to clean them first." Still seeing the doubt in her eyes, he softly stroked her cheek with the back of a finger. "Don't worry; I've learned how to deal with injuries."

It was strange how comforting that simple gesture was, how pleasant, yet she couldn't deny that it in combination with his words worked. "Alright." Besides, he had point; he sadly got wounded all the time and she would trust his judgment.

As she took her cart, 3803 couldn't help but think back to their conversation earlier, his concerns about how she would handle his regular brushes with death. This would happen again, sooner or later.

No that didn't matter. AE 3803 was determined, adhering to what she'd told him. Even if it was for just a day, she wanted to be with him, make the most of what time they did have, no matter how little.

1146 led her through the blood vessels along the borders of the brain, and they finally found themselves among other erythrocytes again. Admittedly there just always seemed to be something off about empty roads. The downside this time around however was that they got a fair number of startled, even appalled looks. 3803 had a feeling that it was in great part due to her own bloodied appearance, something commonplace with neutrophils, but not a cell like her.

Fortunately they eventually reached the wash station and escaped the prying eyes. This one was considerably smaller than the one they had visited back in the intestine a few days ago, but still offered a bit of privacy. It was basically just a shower room, with showerheads, taps and hoses along one wall.

"Having a bit of déjà vu." She noted, looking around the wash station and at her own bloodied clothes; she'd left her cart at the entry again.

"I'll try to be more careful in the future."1146 promised a little bashfully, handing her one of the bottles from the shelves opposite to the showers.

3803 however just smiled as she took the shampoo. "I don't mind." In a way, it did mean more time spent with him after all.

"Give it a moment." And he handed her one of the showerheads as well.

"Ah!" She shivered as soon as the water touched her, suddenly wishing she could simply change clothes instead. "I think it's even colder than last time. Next time I go to the nasal cavities instead, get some warm water there."

"Some of my fellow neutrophils would probably like that idea." 1146 noted as he picked out a few towels.

Curious the red blood cell inclined her head. "Not you?"

He shrugged, turning on his own shower and actually taking off his cap for the moment; now that she thought about it, it was strange seeing him without headgear. "As I've said, I'm used to the cold. Besides, I wouldn't want to run halfway across the body every other time just to clean up."

"Why is it so cold anyway?" It just seemed ridiculous; would a few degrees more really be that bad?

"Well it would use up energy to heat the water. If it were for only a handful of wash stations it probably would be fine, but there are hundreds all across the body." He paused for a moment to wash the cytoplasm from his face and to rinse his hair, but continued as soon as he was done, water dripping from his chin. "Perhaps more importantly however, if the water were too hot, it could actually harm us, denaturise our proteins, not to mention that a constant supply of hot water could also heat up the entire body like a fever. So it stays at around or slightly below body core temperature."

 ** _Denaturation_**

 _The process through which proteins and nucleic acids lose their structure, due to external stress such as heat or pH-value, and therefor can no longer function properly. For a cell this can mean impairment or death._

Confused 3803 arched an eyebrow and turned off her water, having just finished. "But it's fine in the nose?"

"Actually the water is only a little warmer there; the area is just colder compared to most of the body so it seems hot in comparison." He explained.

"Because of the outside air?" She knew that a function of the nose was to warm up the air before it entered the lungs, but she'd never wondered just how great the temperature difference between their world and the outside was.

Meanwhile 1146 merely nodded. "Yes; without the steam baths you would probably be freezing there most of the time."

3803 quickly shook her head, water spraying from her hair and she wrapped herself in one of the towels he'd laid out. "No thank you; the fingers and toes are bad enough at times." Suddenly she realized something, while he chuckled about her comment and turned off his water as well, his wounds thankfully no longer bleeding. Then she stepped up to him and removed her gloves.

"Sekkekkyū?" He sounded a little confused.

"It's just I never…we never…you know, we're always wearing the gloves." She tried to explain sheepishly; though after kissing this probably shouldn't be such a big deal. But it sure felt like it was.

After a moment 1146's puzzled expression was exchanged for a warm smile and he proceeded to put his showerhead aside and take off his own gloves. He offered her his bare hand and tentatively she took it, her cheeks warming, before he tenderly brushed his thumb across the back of her hand.

His was cooler than hers, but not by much. It was of course larger and she could see a few barely visible scars, looking like they'd been left by blade or claw, perhaps even teeth. His fingers where perhaps a little rougher than hers, but nonetheless pleasant on her membrane; she actually found herself shivering a little at the contact. This was the first time they really touched.

Neither of them spoke, they were simply holding hands. 3803 felt herself blushing; for some reason this felt almost as intimate as a kiss to her. She looked up to him and saw that he was still smiling. And it made her want to dare just a bit more. Timidly she reached out with her other hand.

First her fingers felt over his jaw, slowly up to his cheek, until she was gently framing his face. This was so much better than with gloves. And he seemed to have no objections.

But the beautiful moment ended abruptly, when they heard approaching footsteps and a few voices. Other neutrophils were coming! Still, the two of them remained as they were for a few more moments, for as long as they were out of view.

"I have to finish my patrol." There was the same reluctance she felt lingering in his voice, though his smile stayed as he looked at her. "And re-equip."

Slowly 3803 nodded. "I guess I should really get back to the lungs." But, when would they meet again? It could be days.

1146 took the hand still framing his face and tilted his head just a little. She felt her face heat up even more when he planted a kiss on her bare palm. "Then I'll catch up with you later at the heart."

And at this the erythrocyte beamed with joy; despite the emotional roller-coaster she'd been through, today felt like the best day of her life.

* * *

AA 5100 was walking towards the heart later that day, a basket of nutrients swinging from her arm, accompanied today by two of her oldest friends, red blood cells she'd graduated with. The two male erythrocytes currently talked about the work done in the kidneys, trying to make sense of their many filters, but frankly AA was only half listening. It had been a long day and she was really in the mood for some glucose and a small break, though it would have to wait until she'd finished her delivery. Thankfully her destination, the left part of the ribcage, wasn't far from her current location.

Rubbing her somewhat stiff feeling neck she looked around and to her surprise spotted an unusual, yet familiar pair in the distance. Just off the road on a lawn were her kohai AE 3803 and her neutrophil friend, sitting side by side, tea next to them, enjoying what was probably their dinner.

Her kohai was currently talking, undoubtedly cheery, with that bright smile and those blushed cheeks AA 5100 had come to associate her with. Meanwhile the neutrophil U-1146 listened attentively as he always did, displaying a much more subtle, rather serene smile.

5100 inclined her head, frowning a little. Was it just her, or was he looking almost fondly at 3803? Maybe it was because of the distance; he was still a neutrophil after all, even with AE deeply caring for him.

Regardless, AA 5100 couldn't help but smile. Even if she didn't understand her kohai's affection for a white blood cell, one sided or not, it warmed her haemoglobin to see them both so happy together. And she was glad that AE had pulled herself together in the end.

Then a voice tore from her musings "Hey, 5100!" PO 1076 shouted.

Only now did the erythrocyte notice that her friends had continued on, while she'd stopped to watch and she hurried to catch up again, not wanting to draw attention to the strange couple on the lawn. AA didn't want to accidently start some gossip about her kohai. "Coming." Besides, in a way things had only gotten back to normal now.

* * *

With newly cleaned uniforms the three neutrophils returned to the torso, following the superior vena cava. All felt pretty satisfied with how things had worked out today, even with the bacterial interventions. Still.

"Seriously, the moment we leave he runs into a Neisseria?" U-2626 noted, shaking his head somewhat disbelievingly.

The fluffy haired neutrophil chuckled and shrugged amused. "Yeah; wonder if it's because of his or her bad luck."

"Maybe it's the combination." 2048 suggested, before smiling. "At least they're both fine and finally together."

The other two nodded. "True. Guess we're pretty good at this." 4989 pointed out merrily; a part of him just wanted to hug the two lovebirds and congratulate them, but the three had decided on their way here that they would wait for 1146 and 3803 to address the issue of their new relationship first. 4989 had the feeling that he would really have to force himself to keep quiet.

"Excuse me?" A tentative voice suddenly piped up.

"Huh?" All three neutrophil turned around to see that an erythrocyte had approached them, shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other.

"You're U-4989, right?" She addressed the fluffy haired leucocyte.

"Yes?" Then it hit him. "Wait aren't you one of the erythrocytes that got attacked by the Plasmodium?" He recognized her dark auburn hair, which she'd braided into a long plait, though there were several shorter, wild strands sticking out and framing her face as well.

"I am." The erythrocyte confirmed a bit nervously. "That day I didn't get the chance to thank you."

Flabbergasted 4989 stared at her, blinking confused. "But I couldn't do a thing." Despite having tried both knife and bare hands, he had been unable to remove the bracelet-shaped parasite from her wrist.

With a hand she started rubbing her arm as if she was trying to soothe herself, looking sideways to avoid meeting his eyes. "When the NK cell wanted to eliminate me, you and your fellow neutrophil stepped in and stopped her. Killing me would probably have been the saver option, but you defended me nonetheless. "And she bowed. "Thank you."

Until today AE 3803 had been the only erythrocyte to ever truly thank him at all. "Um, you're welcome." He replied unsure, though her gesture gladdened him. It was so rare that white blood cells got any recognition for their work.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, U-2048 and 2626 watching them curiously, before she nodded and lifted her hand for a tentative little wave. "Well…have a good day." And she simply ran off.

"Wait! Hold up!" But she had already disappeared back into the crowd.

2048 raised a brow questioningly. "What for?"

4989 didn't answer immediately, pouting a little instead. "I didn't even catch her number. AC something…"

"You want to meet her again?" His friend asked surprised.

The fluffy haired neutrophil nodded and smiled. "Hey, I'm glad for any erythrocyte that's not afraid of us." He lifted a single finger. "Don't know about you, but I'd like to raise that number above '1'."

"Good luck with that." 2626 chuckled, patting him on the back; it was admittedly a bit of wishful thinking. Still, 4989 was nothing if not stubborn and he could at least try. For now however the three simply continued on their way. A project for another day; now it was time to go back to work.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

And with this we end Realisations.

I really hope you've enjoyed it and I'm grateful for every review; this was the final chapter, so tell me your thoughts on it and perhaps the story as a whole. Also to everyone who followed and favoured the story, thank you so much for your support and the motivation it provided me with.

You are also welcome to make requests; if you have a disease you'd like to see, don't hesitate to share. Perhaps I can include it in an upcoming story, though I can't make promises. **  
**

I actually have a few in planning, all of which take place after "Realisation" and in a way continue it. Among them are a few one-shots focused on U-1146 and AE 3803, now that they are in a romantic relationship. The first is going to be "Well Known Secret", in which the two try to keep their relationship a secret, much to the amusement of the neutrophil squad.

But there will also be a story around U-4989 trying to befriend that erythrocyte, who thanked him in this chapter, called "Hearts & Minds". Lastly we have a story where our favourite cells have to deal with a mycosis, a fungal infection of the body. All titles and a few more details on my profile.

Until then, stay healthy ^^

And we'll end with "Song #3" by Stone Sour:

…

No one else has ever loved me  
No one else has ever tried  
I never understood  
How much I could take

Then I saw the worst was over  
When I laid my eyes on you  
It was all that I could do to know my place

Out of all the vast illusions  
Out of all the dreams come true  
I was gone until  
I finally saw your face

If you cried out for more  
If you reached out for me  
I would run into the storm  
Just to keep you here with me

I have gone beyond my years  
I've wasted half my life  
But I found it all in you  
Did I save you?  
'Cause I know you saved me too

…


End file.
